Faceless Mask
by Confession68
Summary: Seven years had past since the legendary prince had vanished. So many searched for him, looking to gain the substantial reward and others his power. A great man stands in their way, but sometimes, even the greatest of men need help.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: **Okay, so… I had this weird One Piece dream, and it gave me this story idea. I hope so hardcore that I can finish this story. As for _Possession_… I'm going to be completely honest with you guys. I don't know if I can finish it. I just didn't have enough motivation or ideas, but this one… I got LOTS of ideas, and I already know where it will go, so that's a plus. I've written 2 chapters so far, short chapters, but that's a good start. I still have more writing I want to do, so no worries. However, I will tell you now, I think it will be a relatively short fic. Also, just so you guys know, this fic is going to be completely OOC, because I'm just testing my writing capabilities, really. I think they will keep some of their original characteristics, but will mostly be me. I hope you guys still enjoy this AU. :)

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 1**

He had been watching him for some time now; weeks, it seemed. He was pretty sure he was just the man to do the job for him. He had a handsome face and was charismatic. He was also friendly in manner, even if he had a bit of a temper. Trouble was, could he trust him? He supposed there was only one way to find out.

Pulling the hood more over his bright red hair, he slowly made his way out of the shadows to follow after the man. It was not long before the man realized he was being followed and turned to confront him. Narrowing his one eye, the other hidden behind his blonde hair, the man called, "Who are you? You've been following me for weeks now. Do I owe you money?"

"No," a very young voice called from under the hood, and then he slowly pulled it back to reveal his young face.

The single eyed man furrowed his curled brow in some confusion. "Why are you following me, kid?"

"I have a proposition for you?"

The curly browed man burst into laughter, now just looking amused, instead of suspicious. "A proposition? What is this kid? How old are you? Isn't it way past your curfew? Where is your mom?"

"Dead."

Losing some of his amusement, the man cleared his throat and pulled at the collar of his shirt. "How old are you?"

"Twelve."

"Twelve," he repeated and took a step forward. "What's your name?"

"Red… just call me Red," the kid said and smiled.

"Red. It's nice to meet you, Red," the man said with a slight smile as he took more steps forward. "Name's Sanji."

"I know," Red said and smiled wider.

"Right, I figured as much," Sanji said and nodded. "So, what's this proposition?"

"Sanji, how would you like to make a lot of money?" Red said, his smile curving eerily.

"Money?" Sanji said and slowly began to frown. "How exactly would I do that?"

"I know things… lots of things… things that would be very useful, and things no one else should ever know," Red said, stepping out more out of the shadows and into the lamp light above their heads to show his bright red hair and hazel eyes.

Sanji attempted to hide the shudder, which crept up on him. There was something about this kid, but he was not at all sure what. "Yeah… okay… and what are these things exactly?" he finally asked after a few moments of uncomfortable silence, at least, uncomfortable to him.

"Let's go to your place, and I'll tell you all about it. I just need a face; your face, because no one would listen to a kid," Red said and tilted his head slightly.

"Uh… yeah, all right," Sanji said, but his suspicions were sneaking back up on him. However, he turned and motioned for the kid to follow him anyway. He supposed if it made him money, it was at least worth listening to. He owed a lot of people. Of course, he had no idea what kind of world he was stepping into.

**Seven Years Later…**

"_We still can't believe just how well the world's economy has improved, and all thanks to one man's brave stand. Seven years ago, a man we all know well, Sanji Zeff stepped up and solved so many of our world's problems. Of course, many of the rich and powerful were not happy with this, but so many living in poverty have been liberated. Things have never looked better. It's a miracle really, and this streak seems to be lasting for quite some time."_

"_Indeed, it seems it won't be ending any time soon, and there are so many, who would like to keep it that way. Sanji is a great man, who has done great things for this world we live in."_

"_Yes, he is, and if you can believe it, ladies, still single."_

Sanji snorted at the large television screen, but then turned a glare to the young red headed man beside him, laughing his head off at what was being said by the media. "Oi, Sanji, I think she's dropping a big hint," Red said as he looked over to Sanji with a grin.

"Fuck off, Red," Sanji said as he stood up to get himself a drink from his wet bar. As he took a sip, he looked about at his large estate and shook his head. All those years ago, he had been so skeptical of all the things Red had told him, and he had to wonder how he knew so much. Even to this day, he wondered, but could never get it out of him, even when furiously questioned. Either way, the boy was a genius, and Red was also his partner, content to let Sanji receive all the credit as well as spot light, even if the information as well as ideas were all his. Even after seven years, and the fact that Red was now nineteen, the young man still lived with him.

"You are the world's most eligible bachelor! They're always wondering why, at twenty-seven, you're still unmarried. If only they knew about all the women-" Red's word were cut off from Sanji having grabbed a pillow from the sofa and hitting him in the face with it.

"That's enough out of you! Isn't it past your bed time?" Sanji said, shooting the young grinning man a glare.

"Nope! I don't got a bed time anymore!" Red said as he snickered, but then slowly lost his smile as his attention once again focused on the news.

"… _young and now legendary prince of Sereniata is still missing after seven years. This is old news, of course, since everyone seems to be keeping track of this and wondering if the young prince will ever be found. So many have tried finding look a likes to gain the reward the young prince's grandfather and crowned king is willing to pay for his return. Well, today that number has increased, making this amount the world's largest reward ever recorded in history, and that number has now increased to four billion. If anyone has any information…"_

"We should try finding him, Sanji. Four billion is a lot of money and could really help our cause," Red said and snickered, not at all serious.

"There haven't even been sightings, much less a body. The prince has vanished off the face of the planet. There's no way we will find him. He's probably dead," Sanji said and scoffed, but that was a nice chunk of change.

Red laughed and said, "Yeah, you're probably right, but that is a lot of money. Not that we don't have any."

"But nowhere near that amount…" Sanji said with a sigh as he closed his lips around a cigarette and lit it and stuffed the pack back in his coat pocket. "Anyways, we've got that meeting tomorrow morning, and as my assistant, you need to be there. So, go and get ready for bed, seriously."

"Yeah, yeah," Red said as he turned off the television, and then got up to do as he was told.

"Oh yeah… and tomorrow after the meeting, we need to go tuxedo shopping," Sanji said, removing the cigarette from his mouth to blow out the smoke.

"Wait, what? What for?" Red asked and frowned to him.

"We've been invited," Sanji said, slowly raising his eyes toward the young man.

"Invited?" Red repeated slowly in question, the tone in his voice dropping.

"That's right… to the kingdom of Asteron. King Cobra and his daughter, Princess Vivi wish to meet us. Their kingdom is prospering again, because of us. According to them, they are in our debt. We've been invited to a formal dinner, and this time, you're coming with me. You've ducked out of the last few, but not this time," Sanji said, gazing intently on the young man. "You're the man behind it all…" he said, his voice low as he placed the cigarette between his lips, taking in a breath and then releasing the smoke, "I'm just the mask."

Staring back at Sanji in silence for some time, Red finally took a long, deep breath and released it through his nostrils, which flared to show his displeasure, but then he asked, "When?"

"In two weeks' time," Sanji replied as he turned away. "I just want to be prepared, and we'll need to be fitted. Should take them a few days to make the suits. This also means I need you to pack. The flight has already been booked and scheduled."

"Damn it," Red growled under his breath as he also turned away. He was silent again for some time, but then he huffed again. "You know I hate these things."

"I know you do… Don't care. You're going."

Red gave another growl, but then he shifted around uncomfortably. "It'll just be us, right?"

Sanji turned to look at him over his shoulder, now the one holding the silence as he took another puff from his cigarette. "You expecting to see anyone else?"

"No, of course not… You know I just don't like a large crowd of people…" Red muttered, looking very displeased. "It's why I needed your face, and even so, you still dragged my name around."

"Red," Sanji started as he turned completely towards him, "it's all because of you. You have made our world a better place, and yet I have to take all the credit. The world doesn't even realize who it was, who really saved them. It's an injustice-"

"I don't care about any of that! The world doesn't need to know who I am!" Red exclaimed much more harshly than was necessary as he glared back at Sanji.

Staring back at him for some time, Sanji finally sighed and put out his cigarette within the tray resting on his wet bar. "And that's what makes it such an injustice. Only great men do great things to which no one knows about. I respect you, Red. I wish people could know… that's all. Even at such a young age…" he muttered, but then he sighed a second time. "I would still like for you to come with me."

Red growled within his throat as he turned his back completely. Again, silence filled the room as both men stared off away from the other, Sanji at the billowing smoke from the just extinguished cigarette and Red at the blank television screen. Somehow, Red felt he would regret this decision, but then his shoulders fell. "All right, fine… I'll come with you, but I refuse to do any talking."

"Deal," Sanji said and quickly moved away from the wet bar. "You don't have to worry about any of that. To the world, you're just my assistant. There will be no need for you to speak. I can do all of that."

"Good… I'll… go and pack now," Red muttered and then quickly turned to walk out of the room. Sanji just watched him go, only his eyes following. He then rolled them away to gaze at the hard wood floors. Sometimes, he envied Red. Sometimes… he really wished he was that great man the world seemed to think he was. He owed so much to him… He owed everything to Red.

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note: **So, what did you guys think so far? I would really like to know. I know it's not much yet, and you guys are pretty confused, but that's my intention. You'll just have to stay tuned to figure out more. ;) Oh, and introducing Red. ;) Hope you guys like him! Anyways, until next time! :D

**P.S.** Crap, noticed a mistake after posting! Had to fix it and resubmit! xD; Sorry!


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Man, am I so glad these ideas just keep coming to me. I keep having to try and figure out what happens next chapter. In the next instant, an idea comes to me. Man, it feels so good. I have not written like this in 4 years… I wrote 3 and a half-ish chapters all in one day. Too bad I won't post them all at once. X) You guys need to start reviewing! I like to know if you guys enjoy them or not. I also like to hear opinions. Your opinions matter to me, as well as any advice you'd like to offer. :D Anyways, I found a good song, which is helping me write this, and it definitely influenced how I wrote this chapter as well as the ones following. I think you guys should give it a listen, maybe even listen to it as you read. :3 It's the ending song from the movie Oblivion, with Tom Cruise. Amazing movie, by the way. Anyway, just do a search on youtube for M83 – Oblivion feat. Susanne Sundfor submitted by Xhueloe. I love this song so much. :) I don't know… To me, it's a very powerful song. I feel as if it might help me create a powerful story, or maybe that's just my hope. ;) Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 2**

"It's him. I know it's him. It has to be."

With a yawn, the green haired man then just scoffed and said, "You say that every time. There's absolutely no proof, and I'm beginning to think finding him is impossible. I think we should give up."

"I am _not_ giving up, Zoro!"

Zoro groaned, letting his head lull back in exhaustion, but then he sat all the way forward to look where she was looking, though he could not see as well as her, since she was looking through digital binoculars. "Nami, we've been at this for years… and we still haven't found the fucker, and _that_ looks nothing like him."

"It's him. I can feel it…"

Scoffing into laughter, Zoro cleared his throat against nearly chocking and said, "You can _feel_ it? Really? Don't be ridiculous."

"It's him, damn it. You can laugh all you want. I will make money off him."

"You and your damned money…"

"Then why the hell have you followed me around the world then? Don't lie and tell me it wasn't for the prospect of a _lot_ of money," Nami said and finally turned to glare at the green haired man.

Zoro huffed and looked ahead again, but then he shrugged. "I think, at first, it was just for the thrill and all the travelling, but it's been two years now, and still no real trace. Not even sure where you got this hunch from, but I'm telling you," he pointed to their current target, "_that's not him_."

"It is… I know it is. He's different."

"Let me guess… You're… women's intuition is telling you this?"

"Fuck you, Zoro. You can go home, if you want. I'll keep the money all to myself."

"Fuck off, and leave you all by yourself to travel the world alone? I don't think so," Zoro said and scoffed again.

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much," Nami said and looked through the binoculars again. They were handsome men…

"Like hell you can," Zoro said and quirked a brow at her.

"Let's go down and get a closer look. We can just walk and pretend to be a couple," Nami said, pushing herself up and packing away the binoculars.

"Yeah, sure," Zoro muttered and sighed as he also stood.

They both headed down from the roof to the street below and began to walk side by side down the sidewalk, dodging the many other bodies walking about. Nami's eyes shifted to their target, watching him through the glass. He was thin, very thin, and not very tall. It was possible he was about as tall as she was. She watched as he suddenly looked out of the window and his eyes gravitated right to hers. Her eyes blinked a bit, and strangely, her heart seized before pulsing. On instinct, she reached out and took Zoro's hand into hers and forced herself to look away from those piercing eyes, as if they saw right through her.

Zoro's fingers curled around hers, having seen the slight exchanged, but then faced forward again. "Think he suspects?"

"I… I don't know. I don't think so," she stuttered out and took a few deep breaths. "I hope not." She then turned a bright smile up to him and said, "Just smile and pretend nothing whatsoever is going on."

Looking down to her, he just smiled and brought up her hand to kiss the back of it. "Nothing whatsoever is going on. Don't worry about it. Though, I'm beginning to think you might be right. That money is just within our reach."

"I told you so," she said and chuckled as she faced forward again. "Thanks for letting me drag you around all over the world. I know it'll be worth it."

"Most definitely worth it," he said with a heavy nod as they continued down the sidewalk. There was suddenly the sound of screeching tires, and Nami quickly looked up. A car turned down the street they were walking and stopped right in front of the place their target was in. Men with guns got out, and all hell broke loose. Nami gasped, her eyes widening in shock and just stood frozen. "Nami, get down!" Zoro yelled as he grabbed her to him and made them both drop to the ground, though he took the brunt of the fall.

There were screams filling the air, screams of pain and screams of terror as well as the continuous sounds of gun shots. Nami was frozen in shock, and then the trembling started. "No!" she screamed and pushed Zoro off from her. They were going to kill him!

"Nami! Don't!" Zoro yelled as he reached out to stop her, but missed as she ran straight for the gunmen.

There were other men firing back, guards. She could not see if he was all right. Everyone within the building had dropped. "No, don't! Don't kill him!" she screamed, causing some attention to be placed on her. She suddenly gasped loudly just as she slipped between two parked cars, feeling the stinging, searing pain start all along her side. She dropped instantly, collapsing over the hood of one of the cars, smearing it with her blood and grabbed the wound, already oozing heavily. She then slid right off and hit the hard concrete.

She could hear Zoro screaming for her in the distance, but it sounded so far off. She felt herself slipping in and out of unconsciousness. The gunfire suddenly stopped, and she vaguely heard the screeching tires of the retreating vehicle. She could still hear the echo of the screams and chaos which was left behind, but then she slowly tilted her head to look above her as someone slowly approached her. She watched as he crouched down and gently touched near her wound.

Blinking her eyes several times, she saw those same piercing eyes looking into hers, but then he lifted a finger to his lips, and she heard the quiet shush. He then looked to her wound and raised his hand over it. She weakly lowered her head to look, though her vision blurred. However, they widened when she saw the golden light, looking like speckles of golden dust as it swirled around her wound.

"This is going to hurt."

She heard the low words as if far down a long, empty hallway, but in the next instant, she felt a pain so intense, nothing else seemed to register as the bullet was ripped from her flesh by an unknown force. Throwing her head back, she released a scream full of pain, and then she heard Zoro calling for her again. Not too long after, the pain was suddenly gone, and her eyes rolled back into her head.

The man stood up, gazing down at her for only a moment, and then he turned, simply walking away from her. Opening her eyes vaguely, she lifted her head again to watch as he walked away, and saw as he slowly turned, looking at her over his shoulder. Then more words seemed to register within her mind.

"_Please don't tell anyone."_

Just as Zoro reached her, her eyes again rolled into the back of her head as she slipped into the darkness.

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note:** Oooh, mysterious? D: Or is it? -_- Who knows? Anyways, what did you guys think? You liking it so far? I do hope so! Anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter. ;) I'll be posting 1 chapter a day, until I end it or run out of ideas, bahahaha! Hopefully, I don't run out of ideas. :) They just keep flowing!


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** Still stuck on this song. xD It's inspiring me, so I guess that's a very good thing. I can't stop writing, and I'm having so much fun with this! :D I've written up to chapter 6 so far, but I think I still need to tweak that one before I continue to 7. :P Sorry if you guys might still think it OOC, but I am just enjoying myself way too much, he he! Hope you guys are still enjoying it right along with me! :D Anyways, enjoy this chapter!

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 3**

Nami groaned and rolled her tired eyes open. She felt weak, but strangely, there was no pain. She stared up at the white, sterile ceiling. It was so bright. Her eyes moved from side to side, looking at all the bright white, the walls, the floor, the ceiling, but then to her left, when she heard the voice.

"Hey," Zoro called and sat up to get a better look at her, "how do you feel?"

"I… I feel okay, actually. There's no pain," she replied weakly and groaned to the grogginess she felt.

"That was a damned stupid thing you did," he said, his voice reprimanded. "The money was not worth your life. You could have died."

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I just…" she started, but her words trailed off, "I don't know, I just… reacted. I couldn't let him die, but I'm not even sure… why. I… I don't think it was because of the money, or maybe it was. I don't even know anymore. Maybe it wasn't even for him," she muttered, almost incomprehensively.

"Well, don't ever do it again," Zoro said and sighed as he sat back. "Doctor says it was strange though. The bullet didn't go through, but yet the bullet was lying beside you. What happened anyway?"

"Yeah," she whispered, getting flashes and images of what happened. "Gold…"

"What?" he asked as he sat up once again to try and hear her better.

"Nothing. I don't remember," she muttered and looked away.

"_Please don't tell anyone."_

Rolling her eyes closed, she took in a deep breath. She had no idea how, but he had saved her life. He could have allowed her to die, and his secret would have died with her, but he did not. He took a huge risk in letting her see and letting her live. She felt the sting of tears, and her closed eyes did nothing to stop them from gliding down her temple and over the bridge of her nose. He had saved her life…

"Thank you."

"What?" Zoro asked and frowned deeply to her. She was acting strangely.

"Nothing," she whispered as she opened her eyes to gaze out of the window, watching as the bright green trees swayed to the gentle push of the wind.

"By the way, I called your sister. She's flying here to see you, but that was hours ago. She should be here soon," Zoro said and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Shit," Nami muttered and covered her face with her hands.

Zoro just hummed in response, knowing she would give such a reaction. "You should have known I would call her…"

"But I'm fine, really! I don't even feel any pain!" she whined and pulled the crystal white sheet over her head.

"Mmhmm, how is that, exactly? I would think you'd be in a shit ton of pain," Zoro said and quirked a brow.

"I don't know," she muttered, her voice muffled under the sheets. "I don't remember."

"Mmm, so you said," he said and sighed deeply.

"Don't give me that tone!" she said from under the sheets.

"You scared the shit out of me. I can give you whatever tone I want. You should rest. Despite everything, you still lost a lot of blood. Doc said you'd need to rest and that you'd feel tired. I'm sure your sister will wake you, once she gets here," he said and frowned at her.

She was silent for a while, but then she muttered, "Yeah…"

"Hello," a quiet, kind voice said from the open doorway.

Nami pulled the sheet down to look at who it was. A young, handsome man, stood within the doorway, his coat as crisp, white and blinding as the rest of the room. He blinked his big blue eyes, looking brighter from the brightness of the room, as well as his pale skin, and then he smiled. "My name is Tony, and I'm your doctor for the duration of your stay here. How are you feeling, Nami?" he asked and stepped into the room, the glass doors closing behind him.

"I'm… okay," she replied quietly as she watched him.

"That's good to hear," he said with a nod and lifted up her chart to read over. "Do you mind if a do a checkup?"

"No, not at all," she replied and shook her head.

"Good," he said and stepped forward to have a look at her as well as her bandaged wound. He gave a nod and said, "Very good. I was very surprised by your case. The circumstances seemed strange. Was there anyone there? Did someone treat you before the paramedics arrived?"

"I… I don't remember," she muttered and shifted her eyes away from him.

"I see," he replied quietly, just gazing down at her. "With that sort of trauma, memory loss is completely plausible. You should still get your rest. Are you hungry? I can have a meal brought to you, though nothing solid, I'm afraid."

"Not hungry," she muttered and closed her eyes.

"Well, you should eat soon. You'll need it to replenish the blood and nutrients you lost," he said and nodded slowly. "Anyway, if you need anything, just page the nurses. One will be here shortly to change out your bandages."

"Thank you," she muttered and sighed softly.

Just then, the glass doors slid open, and in stepped her sister. "Nami? Zoro, is she okay?"

"I'm fine, Nojiko," Nami muttered and opened her eyes, but stared off out of the window.

"You're _fine_? Nami, you were shot! And from what Zoro told me, you walked right into the gunfight! What is the matter with you? I thought I taught you better than that!" Nojiko said as she moved to block her vision. "You had me worried, you know!" she said, tears swimming in her eyes.

Blinking her eyes into focus on her sister, Nami sighed and muttered, "I'm really sorry, Nojiko. You're right. It was really stupid. I have no idea what made me do it."

"You're damn right it was stupid!" Nojiko said with a sniffle as she wiped her tears away. "I have no idea what I'd do without you! It's bad enough you've been chasing around these…_ people _for over two years now! I only feel slightly better that Zoro's been with you, but then this happens!"

Zoro snorted and said, "I tried to keep her safe. She wouldn't let me."

"I know-I know. I'm sorry you guys," Nami said and sighed loudly. "I promise never to do anything so stupid ever again, okay?"

"You're damn right you won't!" Nojiko said and huffed.

"Ah, well," Tony started and cleared his throat, looking nervous and skittish, "I'll be going now. Rest assured Nami is in very good shape. Whoever treated her before she was brought here saved her life. She'll make a full recovery." He then nodded his head and turned to leave, the glass doors sliding open to let him out.

Nojiko stared after the handsome doctor for a bit before looking down at her sister. "Someone saved your life?"

"I-I don't know. I-"

"She doesn't remember," Zoro said, interrupting her and speaking for her, though he was frowning.

"Don't remember?" Nojiko asked and frowned. "Damn… it doesn't matter. I'm just glad you're okay, Nami. Whoever this person was, I'm grateful to them. I wish there was some way we could find out." She then looked up at Zoro. "Didn't you see anything?"

"No," Zoro said and frowned deeper instantly. "I was down on the ground, and I could see her under the car, but… I didn't see anyone at all. No one approached her as far as I saw, but everything was in chaos. There were people everywhere. Maybe I just missed it. I was crawling over to her, and the next thing I know though, she screams in pain. I have no idea what happened."

"Well, shit," Nojiko said and sighed as she dropped into a chair. "Well, I'm still grateful to them. Maybe one day, we'll find them, or maybe you'll remember what they looked like, Nami."

"Yeah, maybe," Nami whispered and closed her eyes. "Going to sleep now."

"Yeah, okay. You rest. We'll be right here with you," Nojiko said, reaching out to tenderly pet over her head.

"Okay, thanks," Nami whispered and snuggled up into the sheets. As the darkness swarmed behind her lids, those piercing, dark eyes seemed to gaze back at her. With a soft gasp, her eyes flew open, and she slowly frowned.

"_Who are you…?"_

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note:** Tee hee! I know, I totes didn't answer any questions with this chapter. I guess you guys will just have to wait and find out. ;) Hope you're still interested thus far. xD Anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Eheheheehe! It's funny! I was kind of just planning this as I go, but I've been so excited and having so much fun, that I now have it _all_ planned out! That's right, I know how it's going to end! :D Ideas just keep popping into my head! I can't stop them! I should let you guys know… I've just recently moved back home to Texas from Minnesota, and I've never been so happy. I think my creativity was stunted while I was there. I just was not happy… I was like a caged bird… but here, I feel free again. :) So happy to be home… Anyways, I have a good feeling I'll be finishing this fic. :) So no worries, you guys! :D Hope you guys enjoy it!

**P.S. **On a side note, DarthHawk32 and Raven the Ravenous have started a manga podcast. You guys should check it out. Here's the link: ( h ) ( t ) ( t ) ( p ) ( : ) ( / ) ( / ) manga ( cubed ) ( period ) ( podo ) ( matic ) ( period ) com. Just switch out the ( period ) for periods, remove the parentheses and remove the spaces, and all should be good.

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 4**

As Red exited the limo, he gazed up at the building and frowned. He was so glad Sanji took care of everything and all the talking. He really was not very good with people. However, he still did not like being around them. He could do without that. However, Sanji needed him, and so there he was.

Taking a deep breath, he turned to Sanji heading around with all the guards behind him, protecting him. He then moved into the midst of them and headed inside with Sanji, waiting as the guards opened the door for them. Both headed inside and to the elevator. As they exited onto the correct floor, he remained behind Sanji as he headed into the conference room, looking as if he owned the place. He began speaking immediately as he greeted them and shook their hands. Most did not even pay Red any mind, and only a few shook his hand with a greeting. He preferred it that way.

As the meeting progressed, he nearly fell asleep, but would come to attention when Sanji asked of him. He handed him folder after folder, and then was in charge of the slide show being reviewed by the members of the meeting. The meeting was a success, of course. Sanji was very good with words and could always reach the hearts of those he spoke to. It was another reason everything over the years had gone so well. Sanji always believed he did nothing and was not at all worthy of the praise he received, but Red begged to differ.

He was just as responsible for the success…

Sanji shook hands with every member there as they all left with a reserved smile on his face. He watched as they all walked away and then turned to Red. "Another success. I'm glad. Everything is going as smoothly as you said it would."

"Of course it is," Red said as he packed everything up and headed over to him. "So… shopping next?"

"Yup, shopping next. Come on, let's get out of here," Sanji said, wrapping an arm around the red headed young man and heading to the elevators with him," and then lunch."

"Lunch sounds good. I'm starving!"

"We just had breakfast not too long ago…"

"That was two hours ago!"

Sanji gave a grunt and shook his head. "You're unbelievable sometimes."

"Two hours is a long time!"

"Yeah, yeah…"

As they arrived at the store, Red pursed his lips with a huff. "I don't like shopping."

"You don't like anything," Sanji said and stepped out of the limo to head inside.

"That's not true! There are things I like!"

"It's rare," Sanji muttered as he stepped inside after the guards held the door open for the both of them.

"Ah, Mr. Zeff! So good of you and Mr. Red to visit us today! Thank you for calling ahead to make an appointment! You said you were in need of a couple of custom fit tuxedos and suits. Shall we start the measuring?" a very nervous gentleman greeted them, sweat already beginning to form over his brow.

"Yes, please," Sanji said with a nod and stepped up onto a platform, where he was directed and already two people stepped up to begin measuring him. He ignored all of the eyes, which were directed at them; other important men, but nowhere near as famous.

Red grumbled under his breath, but did the same thing, except he stood to face the large window. He wanted something to do at least. He just gazed at the many people walking outside. He then gave another huff as they began to measure him as well. After a while, he then gazed at all the other important men of society, who just so happened to be there. Something told him, they just wanted to get close to Sanji and perhaps get a chance to speak to him. They just wanted in on the money and fame. Having their names attached to his was enough to become even more successful businessmen. His eyes narrowed slightly, but then his eyes shifted back to the window.

However, hearing the screeching tires, his brows began to furrow. "Sanji," he whispered, feeling his heart begin to pound.

"What is it?" Sanji asked and looked over to him. He then turned, seeing a car screech to a halt outside of the building and instantly frowned.

"Sanji, get down!" Red yelled, turning instantly and tackling Sanji to the ground. Other people within the store began to scream, some in fear, others in pain. Red held tight to Sanji, but he could hear Sanji yelling in his ear. Next thing he knew, Sanji had rolled Red under him, as if _he_ instead, meant to protect him.

"No, Sanji!" Red yelled, but Sanji held tight to him. He could barely hear his own voice over the noise. "You can't die!"

"And neither can you! You're far more important than I am!" Sanji yelled in order to be heard. He could hear his guards firing back at the men firing into the store. "Shit!"

Red ground his teeth, listening to all the noise and chaos. He could hear a voice yelling outside. They were words, instead of just screaming.

"No, don't! Don't kill him!"

He sucked in his breath, feeling his heart seizing, though it was already pounding. It began pounding even harder. He could hear it in his ears, and it was beginning to drown out all other sounds. Suddenly, his eyes rolled back into the back of his head, and his body began convulsing.

"Fuck! Fuck!" Sanji yelled as he looked down into Red's face. "Damn it, not now!" He held the young man down as his body seized, and then he grabbed his tie and stuck it into his mouth. The gunfire had ceased outside, and he listened as the vehicle retreated. "Just hold on, Red!" He then looked about at everyone running about like chickens with their heads cut off, and then the tears began to blur his vision.

"Someone call for fucking ambulances!"

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note:** Le whoa… I know. Intense, right? Lawl! I am having waaaay too much fun with this! :D This song is really, really, really inspiring me, and I am LOVING IT! WHOO! Feels so good! Anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter, ya'll! ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **Eff… I have to apologize to you guys. I know I rated this fic T, because I honestly was not sure where I was going to go with it, and I was trying to stick to the one song from Oblivion, because it was setting the whole feel for my inspiration as well as how I was writing it. However, I took a drive last night, and I heard another song, which inspired me, but the inspiration is going in a different direction… So, I'm afraid I had to change the rating to M. u,u For those, who are curious, the song is from Kaskade, and the name is Raining, but the Dance Love Edit version with Adam K. ft Sunsun. No worries, the reason for the M rating won't come until later. X( I do apologize. Anyways, I hope you guys continue to enjoy this story and this chapter. :)

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 5**

Listening to the steady beeping, Red slowly opened his eyes, but frowned as he instantly closed them to how bright the room was. He could see the red of his blood through his lids because of the brightness. With a groan, he brought up an arm to cover over his eyes and once again bring himself back into darkness. His head hurt.

"Red? Are you okay?"

Hearing the concern within the voice, he frowned, lowered his arm and looked to the person sitting beside him. "Yeah," he rasped out and sighed. "I'm okay. What happened?"

"You suffered a seizure," Sanji said with a frown and sat up to lean on the bed. "Doc said you'll be fine though and should be released tomorrow."

"Good… I hate hospitals. You didn't have to bring me here. I would have been fine."

"Bullshit. Don't give me that shit. You always suffer a seizure when you're too stressed. I can't help, but to worry, though I'm glad it doesn't happen often," Sanji said and sighed as he dropped his head over the back of the chair.

Both heard as someone cleared their throat and so both looked to the sliding glass doors. A handsome young man with brilliant blue eyes and light brown hair smiled to seeing Red's eyes opened. "Hello there, Red. Good to see you awake," he said and moved over towards him.

"Thanks, Tony. Can I go home today?" Red asked and looked up at the doctor, someone he knew well enough. It was not the first time he was treated by him after suffering a seizure.

"Today?" Tony asked with a soft frown.

"Absolutely not, Red. You need to remain here for observation," Sanji said, frowning deeply at the young man.

"Yes, Sanji is right. I would prefer you remained here over night, just to be sure. I'm just glad neither of you was a victim from all that gunfire. We have a few of them here, and strangely enough, one of them was treated at the scene, except no one has any clue as to who it was. I'd like to meet this savior. She would have died otherwise," Tony said and raised his eyes to the ceiling in thought.

Red slowly began to frown as he kept his gaze on Tony. "Would have died?" he whispered quietly.

"That's right. Whoever it was, they saved her life. She's a pretty young woman too with long, wavy and bright orange hair," Tony said with a slow nod, and his cheeks flushed slightly. "Anyways, are you hungry, Red?"

"Yes!" Red said instantly, his eyes looking a little more awake. "I'm really hungry. Sanji and I were going to eat lunch after we got ourselves measured."

Tony chuckled softly and said, "All right, I'll have a nurse bring you both something." He then turned to leave and make the request.

Sanji just shook his head and said, "Even after what happened…"

"I told you I was fine," Red said and huffed. "So, hear anything about the shooting?"

"No, not yet. There were several men inside, who could have been targeted, myself included," Sanji said and shrugged.

"Mm, not the first time," Red said and nodded slowly.

"Yes, and you had a seizure then too," Sanji muttered and sighed. "At least that would be assassin was found, though someone had gotten to him first."

"Yeah, but still never found out, who hired him," Red said and pouted. "Maybe it's the same person."

"Maybe," Sanji said and sighed loudly. "Well, I knew what I was getting into. It had to be done, and someone had to do it. Everyone deserves good lives, and despite the dangers, someone has to provide it to them."

"Yes," Red whispered, gazing off as if he was lost in memory. "Someone had to step up and save them."

Shifting his eyes to Red, Sanji slowly frowned, but unlike before, he decided not to speak at all. Perhaps one day, Red would trust him with the truth, even if it had already been seven years, but he supposed not pushing him with questions was a start to earn that trust.

"Sanji?"

Sanji jolted slightly, since he had also drifted into thought and quickly looked up to Red. "Yeah?"

Red was looking directly into his eyes, and since he went silent, Sanji was not sure he would speak, but then Red opened his mouth. "Thank you, Sanji. You have no idea how grateful I am to you. I know it's not easy, what you've done, and constantly being in danger, but you still did this for me. You may think you're taking up all the credit and despise it, but you're a great man for stepping up this way _and_ putting yourself in danger for me. It takes balls."

Sanji scoffed into laughter, but then he just smiled at Red with a nod. "You're welcome, Red. Someone had to do it, right?"

A grin broke out onto Red's face, and then he gave a hard nod. "That's right!"

He had to admit, hearing Red say that made him feel pretty damn good. He had always felt guilty or as if he was looking to just make himself famous. Just as he told Red; someone had to do it. Maybe at first he did it for the money, but that was no longer the case. The world really was better off because of what he and Red had been willing to do for it. He can die now and know he made an impact on the world, and he would die happy for it. Not only that, but he would be honored to die for the cause.

"Here we are," a nurse said, wheeling in a cart with their meals atop it. "I hope you like it," she said and smiled nervously as she moved a table over the bed for Red, and then moved another towards Sanji.

"I'm sure it will be delicious, my dear," Sanji said and gave the woman a charming smile.

The poor nurse nearly fainted. She smiled brightly as she set up their meals. "Enjoy," she said, and then she turned to leave.

"You really know how to talk to the ladies, Sanji," Red said and snickered.

"Not really," Sanji said and smirked. "I could say anything, at this point, and they'd still swoon. It's a rich handsome man, which does it to them."

"Yeah, but you still tell them what they wanna hear! It's why I chose you," Red said and grinned with another snicker.

Sanji just hummed with a smile, and then he reached out to ruffle his bright red hair, to which the young man laughed, attempting to bat his hands away. "You have quite the way with words yourself, you know. At least, you're never afraid to speak what's on your mind."

"Sometimes, they just deserve it!"

Sanji chuckled with a nod and said, "Yes, sometimes they just deserve it." He let the silence blanket them for a few moments watching as the young man ate his food, though he, himself, did not touch his own, but then he took in a breath and said, "You shouldn't sell yourself so short, Red."

"Hmm?" Red replied in question as he looked up, chewing on his food.

"You don't need me to speak for you; not anymore," Sanji said and shook his head.

Beginning to frown, Red slowly shook his head and said, "You're wrong. I do still need you, Sanji."

"No, you don't," Sanji replied quickly after Red had finished speaking and sat up. "However, what you do need is a shield."

"What?" Red whispered, his brows rising up as they knitted together. "What are you talking about?"

"You need my protection. I will continue to speak for you, and they will continue to come for me. Promise me something, Red. If they come for me; if it was me they wanted to kill, promise me you'll live. Don't try and protect me. Allow me to be the one to protect you. Allow me to be your shield," he said, and then he whispered, "Allow me to remain as your mask."

Red swallowed down hard, just staring at Sanji and keeping his frown. "That wasn't why," he whispered, looking troubled.

"Yes it was," Sanji whispered, his expression softening, and he even smiled. "You knew it; deep inside, you knew it. You knew there was no way you could be the front man. It would have been far too dangerous for you. You needed that mask to keep yourself safe, but I'm all right with that. I understand my role, and I'm honored to have it."

Tears instantly sprang to Red's eyes as he regarded Sanji, but his jaw clenched tightly to keep himself from speaking. After a while, he then opened his lips as if he meant to speak, but Sanji held up a hand.

"Don't," Sanji replied instantly as he lowered his hand and shook his head. "It's all right, Red. I understand you have your reasons. Listen to me, Red. You're the mind; the brains behind all of this. Everything dies, if you die. Nothing dies, if I die. I know you'll find a way. Keep yourself safe. That's what's important. I will continue to protect you for as long as I can. Do you understand me?"

Once again clenching his jaw tight, Red regarded him for the longest time in silence, and it seemed he would not give Sanji an answer. However, the tears resurfaced, he clenched his teeth harder, but words came forth.

"I understand."

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note: **D'aww, Sanji! T_T I like you! And Red too! I like you! T_T I hope you guys are still enjoying this fic! :D Stay tuned for the next chapter! :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Okay, since I like you guys so much, I will post two chapters today. HA! No I'm kidding. It has nothing to do with liking you! It's because I really love chapter 6! BAHAHAHAHA! COUGHHACK! No, I'm just messing with you guys. :) I did really want to post this chapter, but I also wanted to give you guys this awesome chapter. ;) Enjoy it! Again, as a warning, the rating has changed to M. The reason for the rating will come up later.

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 6**

"I'm fine, damn it. It doesn't even hurt. I can walk just fine. I just didn't want to be lying in bed," Nami muttered as she walked down the halls of the hospital, wrapped snug within a white, fluffy robe and slippers on her feet. "Why's it so damn white in here?"

Nojiko snorted and shook her head, but kept in step beside her sister. "The doctor said you're supposed to be resting, Nami."

"I know what he said, but I'm fine. How many times do I need to say it before you'll believe it?" Nami said with a near scowl as she looked about them.

Zoro yawned and said from behind them, "You should know by now it's useless to argue with her, Nojiko."

"I will argue it if I damn well please," Nojiko retorted with a scoff.

"Women," Zoro muttered and shook his head at the both of them.

Nami just frowned and ignored Zoro's retort, but as she looked about, she slowly began to frown. There were no nurses at the nursing station, and there was a doctor standing in the middle of nowhere and staring at a chart. However, it was her job to notice things. The man was staring, and his eyes were still. He was not reading the chart before him. She then shifted her eyes to the side to another doctor, leaning against the wall and staring off, but then he shifted his eyes to them as they passed.

Looking ahead, she noted another doctor walking towards them from the opposite direction. As he passed them, he shifted his eyes to hers, but then faced forward again as he continued on, but said nothing in greeting. Nami, however, kept her eyes on him, even stopping to turn slightly. She recognized that face.

"Nami, what's wrong?" Nojiko asked, pausing with her.

Beginning to breathe a little deeper, Nami then shifted her eyes, noticing the other two doctors had their eyes on her as well. "Nothing," Nami said and shook her head as she looked to her sister. "I think I'm ready to lie back down now. My side is beginning to hurt." She felt no such pain.

"Of course, come on. Let's go back," Nojiko said, taking her arm to turn her and lead her back.

Nami watched the doctor as he made his way towards a room, where two guards were stationed. One held up his arm and said, "Hold it. You're not this boy's doctor."

"Doctor Chopper went home for the evening. I'm the night doctor. I wanted to check in with the patient and make sure everything is all right," the man said and smiled to them.

Both guards exchanged looks, but then they nodded and allowed the man to enter. Nami felt her heart pulsing before it began to pound. Something was wrong; very wrong. She recognized that man, and then it came to her. She recognized all of them. They were the gunman from earlier. Thought fled her, and instead instinct kicked in. She took off running, kicking off her slippers, slipped past the guards and into the still open doors. Leaping up, she latched into the man's back and wrapped her arm around his throat, just as he had removed a gun from his deep coat pocket.

"Oh no you don't, you son of a bitch!" she cried, startling them all.

"Whoa!" Sanji yelled, noting the gun, but more startled by the woman.

"Nami!" Nojiko screamed, but Zoro grabbed her and pulled her behind the nursing station to keep her out of the line of fire he knew was coming.

"Nami, damn it!" he cursed, to her running in like that again, after she had promised never to do it again.

The two guards instantly moved, removing their guns, but both were shot by the other two men, posing as doctors. Both went down. Nami screamed as the man thrashed about, trying to get her off from him. "You bitch!" he growled as he grabbed for her, digging his fingers hard into her flesh.

Red's eyes went wide, seeing this woman do what she did, vaguely hearing the gunfire. Why would she do such a thing, and how did she know? "Red, get down!" Sanji yelled as he grabbed Red, pulling him off the bed easy and forcing him to take cover under the hospital bed. He then stood, going directly to the first gunman to grab his wrist to keep the gun pointed away from anyone and to help this brave woman. He could see it in the man's eyes. He was gunning for him. "You fucker!" Sanji growled and scowled as they struggled.

"Wait! Sanji!" Red cried, peering out from under the bed, his eyes large, but then they shifted to the two other men coming in with guns. "Sanji! No!" he screamed, knowing they would kill him, but then his eyes suddenly rolled into the back of his head, and his body began convulsing.

Sanji gasped, seeing the two men and knew deep down, he and this woman were about to die. "Red, run!" he cried and turned, but his face quickly turned to horror, seeing the boy convulsing. "No," he whispered, and his vision blurred. They were all going to die, including Red, the one person he could not allow to die.

And then it happened…

It started with a flash of light, and then the room seemed to be filled with the golden speckles of glowing dust. It remained still, just floating about slowly. It felt as if time itself stopped. It was such a shock, that even the three gunmen paused to stare and look at it all about them. "What the hell is going on?" one of them asked, looking afraid of the strange specks of golden light.

Nami froze, staring at it all as well. It was the same as before. Releasing the man, she let herself slide down and backed up towards the wall, feeling warmth surrounding her. She was not sure how or why, but she felt as if everything was going to be okay. Sanji stood amazed for only a second before quickly turning to go to Red. "Red!" he cried in a whisper and dropped to his knees beside the convulsing boy. His face dropped, seeing the blood trickling from his nose. Pulling a handkerchief from his coat pocket, he quickly stuffed it within the boy's mouth and held him down. "Come on, Red! Be strong for me!"

However, when the dust began to swirl about them and all congregated to one spot, Sanji looked up and felt stunned. Soon, the specks of light began to form a body. The dust dispersed, leaving a man standing before them, wearing a black suit, even his hair and eyes were pitch black.

"What the…?" the same gunman whispered, looking completely shocked. He was so shocked, in fact, he did not react, when the mysterious man swiftly stepped forward and rammed his palm into his chest. The gunman was sent flying, too quickly for the glass doors to slide open for him, and so he was sent crashing through them. The sound of shattering glass made Nojiko scream and cling to Zoro more tightly.

"Nami!" she cried breathless in terror. Where was her sister?

The other two drew their guns in their fear, and one of them fired, but the all in black man dodged to the side easily, as if the bullet was not moving fast at all. He then surged forward, decking the man so hard across the face, he was sent right through the wall. He then quickly twirled around and kicked the other man so hard he flew right out of the window, raining small shards of glass below, where he and the glass landed on an ambulance. Turning to check each man still inside, he saw that neither were moving or trying to get back up again.

Nami then gasped, when those same piercing black eyes turned their gaze to her, and pushed up more against the wall. He stared intently for only a few moments before he turned towards Sanji and Red. Sanji could only gape up at him, his eyes wide as he held Red to him; the boy's body had finally ceased its convulsing, though he was now unconscious. When the man took steps towards them, Sanji could not help the gasp which escaped his lips, nor the hold which tightened around the boy. This, however, did not stop the strange man from coming forward. Slowly, he knelt down beside them bringing his face close to Red's, and the man's expression changed to one of sadness as he gazed back at the red headed young man. His eyes then shifted to Sanji, his eyes seeming to be swarming with emotion.

Before their very eyes, the man turned to golden dust, and the speckles rained down over Sanji before disappearing all together, leaving the two stunned.

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note:** I know, right!? I love this chapter. :3 I hope you guys loved it just as much! Stay tuned for the next chapter! :D


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** All right, so back to 1 chapter a day, unless I deem it necessary to post more than one. xD Which I very well might do, but you know, my poor chapter 5 only got 2 reviews… so maybe not… Hmm… At least 2 people were awesome enough to review it. :3 Thanks you two! Anyways, on to the next chapter! xD Enjoy! :3

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 7**

When he awoke from the heavy sedative, Tony blinked his eyes and quickly sat up. Looking around, he saw most of the nurses for the floor huddled together and crying. "What… What happened?" he asked, rubbing at his eyes, but jumped when he heard the first few shots, which made the nurses scream in terror. "No!" he cried and quickly stood, running to the closed door of the supply closet. He rammed against the door and turned the knob, but the door would not budge. He then heard glass shattering. "Damn it!" he cursed, moved back and then rammed his shoulder hard into it. It took a few more times ramming into it before the door finally gave way.

Falling out over the floor, he scurried to his feet and ran towards the room with the shattered door. He could see a man, unconscious, lying over the shattered glass. He then stepped inside, seeing a shocked Sanji, holding an unconscious Red, and then that same orange haired young woman, huddled within a corner of the room.

"What happened?" he demanded as he looked to each person, but they looked to be too far into shock. Turning to look out, he yelled over his shoulder, "Someone call the police!" He then rushed over to Sanji and frowned when he saw the blood trickling from Red's nose. "Sanji, let me see him!" he called, and Sanji finally moved to help the young doctor place Red back onto his bed.

While the doctor checked out Red, Zoro quickly came out from behind the nursing station and went to collect up the man who was thrown through a wall. He was confused. What the hell had happened within that room? Did the yellow haired, curly browed man do all this? Dragging him over to the first man, he removed four zip ties, concealed within his vest and tied their wrists and ankles together. He then looked up and called, "Nami, where are you?"

"H-Here," Nami called weakly as she slid along the wall, but paused again.

"Nami!" Nojiko cried and ran in over the glass to envelope her sister within a tight hug. "You did it again, damn it! You scared the shit out of me! What is wrong with you?"

"I-I-I don't know!" Nami replied honestly as tears quickly fell. She had no idea what had made her react. That was twice in the same day she had nearly met her end. "I'm sorry! I just… I just… I just reacted again!"

"Are you all right?" Zoro asked, coming towards the two sisters and placing a hand over Nami's head.

"Y-Yes… Yes, I'm fine," she said and nodded quickly. "Didn't get hurt."

"Good, now what the hell happened?" Zoro asked, frowning deeply.

"I… I-I don't know," she said, shaking her head now, just as quickly, and then she buried her face within Nojiko's neck. He had come again. This was also twice today he had saved her life.

Now that Tony as well as the nurses had everything under control with Red, and already the police were there to clean up, Sanji slipped away and headed for the three, his eyes on Nami. "Excuse me," he called quietly, though he still looked just as shaken.

Hearing the voice, Nami pulled away from her sister to look into the pale blue eyes of the handsome blonde man. Nami gazed into those eyes, and between them passed a silent understanding. Neither could speak about what they had seen. "Y-Yes?" she finally managed to whisper after a while.

"I… I wanted to thank you, for what you did. It was very brave of you," he said and a ghost of a smile graced his lips.

"It was a damned foolish thing!" Nojiko cried, still looking very upset.

"Perhaps, but still very brave. If it had not been for you, I would be dead; my assistant Red, would be dead," Sanji said, keeping his eyes on her. "What you did gave me just enough time." There was a slight twinkle within his eyes, and Nami just nodded.

"You're welcome. I recognized them from earlier today. I couldn't let them," she said and lowered her eyes. "I couldn't let them. I had to do it," she turned to her sister, "I'm sorry, Nojiko."

Nojiko shook her head, but then she grabbed her sister to her for another hug. "I'm so proud of you!" she whispered into Nami. "It was stupid, but he's right. It was brave, and because of you, they weren't hurt."

Nami nodded, but then she pulled away to face Sanji again. "I'm sorry about your guards," she whispered and looked to the two men on the ground, which were being prepped to be taken to the morgue.

"As am I," Sanji said, his eyes saddening as he also looked to them, but then he looked back towards Nami, taking one of her hands within his to kiss. "I owe you my life, my dear. Please, allow me to repay you in some way."

"I-No, it's fine, really. I don't need repayment," Nami said, smiling jerkily. She could not believe she was turning him down. She was sure he would pay a fortune, but she could not bring herself to accept it.

"Dinner then, perhaps?" Sanji asked, his voice having dropped a few pitches and became as smooth as freshly churned butter. It did not help that he was looking at her through his lashes, and even his lids and slid down, hooding his pale blue eyes.

Zoro scoffed loudly to this, crossed his arms and looked away. This dude got on his nerves, for some reason. He could not put his finger on it, but at the moment, he did not care. He wanted to punch him across the face; thinking he was all slick… Tony glanced towards Sanji and Nami, and his cheeks erupted into a blush. He then just turned and gave his attention to Red.

"I, um," Nami started, feeling her heart skip a beat before pounding away as she shifted her eyes to the side slightly, but then she nervously smiled. "M-Maybe."

"Maybe?" Nojiko asked, incredulously, but then she looked to Sanji and said, "Of course she will!"

"W-Wait, Nojiko?" Nami exclaimed, her face heating with a flush as she looked to her sister, slightly appalled she would speak up for her. However, she huffed and turned back to Sanji. "I'll think about it."

"Then I will await your answer, my dear," Sanji said, kissing the back of her hand again, and then he held up a card. "My card."

"Th-Thank you," Nami said and took it from him, but then she looked past him towards the bed. "Is… Is he okay?"

Sanji turned, and his face instantly softened. "I do hope so," he whispered softly. "He's all the family I have."

"Then shouldn't you be with him, instead of trying to pick up girls, you curly browed freak-Oof!" Zoro said, but was interrupted by Nami and Nojiko both elbowing him.

Sanji turned a single eyed glare to the man, but then he scoffed and turned back to Red. He then moved forward, but remained out of Tony's way. "I-I hope he gets better," Nami said and smiled to Sanji.

Sanji turned and offered her a gentle smile. "Thank you, my dear. Perhaps, when he awakens, you can meet him?" he asked and turned to look at Red again.

Losing her smile slowly, she shifted her eyes back to Red, and then she finally said so softly, it was nearly a whisper, "I would really like that, actually."

"As would he," Sanji said and nodded as well.

"Excuse me," an officer called from within the doorway, catching their attention. "We'd like to ask a few questions, if that's all right, Mr. Zeff? We would like to ask all of you."

Both Sanji and Nami exchanged a look, but then Sanji shifted his eyes over towards the officer.

"Of course we can, officer."

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note:** Don't ask me why I end off my chapters this way. I just do. ._. I kind of like the single sentence dialogue. It's kind of dramatic! But it probably gets old, right? xD Lawl! Anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter. :3


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** All right, so… I've gotten some reviews, telling me this fic is a LuNa and so ASKING where's the LuNa…? PATIENCE! Didn't you hear!? It's a virtue! Do you got some? No? TOO BAD! You gotta wait anyway! You honestly think I'm gonna mark it as LuNa, be a LuNa writer… AND NOT HAVE LUNA!? Calm down, people! D: Maaaan! Lemme tell ya! It's coming! D: I just didn't put it in the beginning! So what!? Piss off! D: -BREATHES HEAVILY- Maan! D: Okay, and I'm quickly over it! :D Seriously though, it'll come later. xD Enjoy your damn chapter!

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 8**

"Unfortunately, the gunmen shut off all surveillance for this floor. I'm sorry for all of these questions."

"No, it's all right," Sanji said and smiled kindly to the man.

"Okay, so," the officer started, looking down at his tablet, where he was recording all of what was being said, "the three of you," he glanced up to Zoro, Nojiko and then Tony, "didn't actually see anything. Correct?"

"That's correct," Zoro said and nodded to the man, though he was frowning deeply.

"Yes, that's correct. Zoro and I were behind the nursing station," Nojiko said and nodded. "He was trying to protect me."

Tony held a frown on his face as he looked to each person there. "Sir?" the officer asked, looking over to Tony, who jumped and quickly looked to the officer.

"Uh, yes-I mean, correct. I had to break down the door to the supply closet, and by then, it was already over. I could hear the gunfire from within, but I didn't see anything," Tony restated with a nod, and then he looked down. However, his eyes then shifted up to Sanji. Sanji had been in shock when he finally came to the room. How could he have possibly done all he said he did?

"And then you," the officer pointed to Sanji, "were able to subdue the suspects. That's pretty amazing, Mr. Zeff. You always have been an amazing person."

"Ah, thank you," Sanji said and bowed his head, though his smile remained reserved.

"You're welcome, sir," the officer said, but then he looked to Nami. "And you, miss, helped Mr. Zeff. That was pretty amazing, what you did. We all owe you our thanks for helping him."

"It was nothing. I did what anyone should have done. I couldn't let anyone get hurt," Nami muttered, but then she lowered her head.

"Thank you, all of you, for your statements," the officer said, tipping his cap to them before leaving the room.

Nami cleared her throat and muttered, "I should get back to my room."

However, before she could move, Red's eyes shot open wide, and he stared up at the ceiling unmoving. "Red," Sanji instantly called and stood to go to him.

"Red, how are you feeling?" Tony said, instantly going into doctor mode and setting his thoughts and doubts aside.

Red shifted his eyes to Sanji first, and then to Tony, but then those hazel eyes instantly shifted to those large, chocolate brown ones. Nami gasped, when his eyes met with hers, and her heart instantly pulsed. It then began to race to some imaginary finish. Why did it startle her so much? She quickly cleared her throat, but he held her gaze.

"Red? Are you okay?" Sanji asked again, looking worried for the young man.

"Yes," Red replied curtly, but his eyes remained glued to Nami's, which made her cheeks flush with color. "You," he said suddenly and breaking the silence. "You saved us. We are in your debt."

"Yes, I agree," Sanji said and smiled to Nami softly.

"Thank you," Red said, but he did not smile as he kept his gaze on her, as if he intended to see through to her very soul.

Flushing harder, Nami nodded to him and muttered, "Y-You're welcome."

"What's your name?" he asked, his gaze never wavering, which made her squirm a bit.

"Um, it's Nami," she said and shifted her eyes to the side, feeling as the heat within her cheeks spread.

"Nami," Red repeated in a whisper, keeping his eyes on her. "It's nice to meet you, Nami," he said so sincerely, it made her flush turn into a full blown blush all over her face, though it was already spreading.

"It's… very nice to meet you as well, um, Red. I-I hope you get better. I should… go back to my room," she said and thumbed behind her as if to indicate where her room was.

"Please, allow me to escort you there, my dear," Sanji said as he smiled to her and stood up.

"We'll go on ahead," Nojiko said as she grabbed Zoro and headed quickly back to the room.

Seeing as her sister ditched her, Nami sighed, but then turned a smile back to Sanji and said, "That would be nice, thank you."

"I won't be gone long, Red," Sanji said, patting the young man's head.

Red pursed his lips after him with a huff and crossed his arms across his chest. However, he finally allowed Tony to have a look at him. Sanji moved towards Nami quickly, seeing her heading for the door, and swiftly lifted her into his arms. Giving a gasp, she looked up at him with wide eyes and flushed cheeks. "There is still glass all over the floor, my dear, and you nearly stepped on it," Sanji said and smiled to her.

Quickly looking down, Nami blinked at all the shattered glass and flushed darkly once again. She had completely forgotten about the glass, and that she had discarded her slippers. "O-Oh," she muttered and cleared her throat.

Even after stepping over all the glass, Sanji did not put her down, which made Nami frown slightly as she looked up at him. "We need to talk," Sanji suddenly said as he kept his eyes forward.

Frowning a little more, she cleared her throat again and looked ahead. "Yes, I suppose we do. I think I should start off by saying, this wasn't the first time I saw him."

"What?" Sanji exclaimed, louder than he had intended and even paused in his walking. Looking about to make sure there was no attention on them, he then continued walking. "What do you mean, this isn't the first time you've seen him?" he whispered down to her with a deeper frown.

Sighing softly, she then shrugged and said, "At the shooting earlier. He came to me, using that same weird, golden dust. He removed the bullet and made the pain go away. He told me not to tell anyone. I'm glad you didn't."

"Who would believe us anyway? They would think we were crazy if we told them some guy appeared out of nowhere out of golden dust. I'm more worried about those assholes waking up," Sanji muttered under his breath.

"Why didn't you tell the truth, even if they would think you crazy?" she asked and looked up at him.

Sanji was silent for some time as he stared ahead, but then he muttered, "I don't know." He then shook his head and said, "I just felt I couldn't do it. Besides, he saved us."

"Yes, he did. He's saved me twice already today," she said and looked down. "There's no way I would betray him," she whispered and unconsciously rested her head against Sanji's shoulder.

"Yes, I feel the same. It was amazing to see," Sanji agreed and nodded.

"Mmhmm," she agreed, her eyes closed.

Looking down at the young woman, Sanji was slightly astonished. She had fallen asleep within his arms. Blinking down at her a few times, he then just smiled, and that was when he realized, he had no idea where her room was. After asking for her room number, he stepped inside and glanced to the two within waiting. He ignored the moss head's glare and smiled to the periwinkle haired woman as he moved to set Nami within her bed. "She fell asleep," he whispered quietly to her.

Nojiko's eyes widened for a second, but then she smiled. "Wow, she must be really comfortable with you, or maybe the trauma just tuckered her out."

"Most likely the latter, and she's still recovering," Sanji said with a chuckle as he pulled the blankets over Nami.

Chuckling softly, Nojiko nodded her head and said, "Yes, she's a stubborn woman. She shouldn't have been walking around to begin with, but I'm glad she did."

"I am very glad. My companion and I would most likely be dead, had it not been for her," he said and stepped back from the bed. He then turned to Nojiko and said, "I would like to see her again before she leaves here, or before we do. Will you inform her for me?"

"Of course I will," Nojiko said and smiled more softly.

"Ah, I apologize. I never properly introduced myself to you," Sanji said and held his hand out to Nojiko. After she placed her hand within his, he kissed the back of it. "I am Sanji Zeff, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Oh for fuck's sake," Zoro muttered and rolled his eyes.

"I'm Nojiko. It's most definitely a pleasure to actually meet you in person, Mr. Zeff," Nojiko said with a soft flush as she smiled brightly for him.

"The pleasure is all mine, my dear," he said, seeming to be ignoring Zoro altogether.

Nojiko chuckled, but then she nodded over to the pouty Zoro and said, "This is our long time childhood friend, Zoro."

Sanji turned stiffly towards the glaring green haired man and matched his glare. "A pleasure," he muttered with distaste.

"A pleasure we do not share, I can assure you," Zoro said and quirked his brow at him.

"Zoro, don't be rude!" Nojiko said in a reprimanding tone as she frowned over to him. Zoro said nothing and instead rolled his eyes away. He did not care if this man was the great Sanji or the sovereign king himself. He still did not like this curly browed asshole. Nojiko scoffed, but looked up at Sanji. "I apologize for my friend here."

"There's no need, my dear," Sanji said, turning back to her and smiling. "I'll take my leave. I don't wish to be away from Red for too long. Again, it was a pleasure," he said, bowing to her.

"Indeed it was, Mr. Zeff," Nojiko said and smiled as she watched him walk out. She then turned a glare to Zoro. "What's your problem anyway? He's a perfect gentleman."

"He's a fake ass bitch," Zoro muttered with a grunt, having also watched him walk out.

"What are you talking about?" Nojiko asked, frowning deeply.

"Nothing… Doesn't matter," Zoro muttered and glanced over to Nami.

"Zoro, what are you talking about?" she persisted, frowning more in confusion.

Zoro was silent for a while, but then he said, "Don't know… Just something about him." He then looked back through the glass doors again, his brows slowly furrowing.

"His face is just a mask."

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note: **Lawl, Zoro. You tired of the single sentence dialogue endings yet? xD Lawl, I love them, so too bad! Haha, stay tuned for the next chapter. ;)


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** So, you guys are getting impatient again. -_- I have my story all planned out. I refuse to change it, just because you're all impatient. So, just sit back, read and hold on to your damn horses! X( If you don't like it, then stop reading! –HUFFHUFFHUFF- MAN! GEEZ! GOSH! D: No, seriously. xD I promise you, I won't leave you guys wanting. I just need you to have a bit more patience. xD Luffy will come, and he will come by storm. ;P Please enjoy this chapter! xD

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 9**

"So, it seems you're both getting out on the same day," Sanji said and smiled to Nami.

"So it seems. My wound is healing quickly, and so they said I could go," Nami said and nodded to him, though her eyes were averted.

"Thank you for coming to see me before you left," Sanji said and smiled more softly.

"Well, you did ask me to," Nami said more quietly and looked down towards the bright white floor.

Chucking softly, Sanji nodded and said, "Yes, I did. My dear, there is a very special event Red and I have been invited to in the kingdom of Asteron, by King Cobra and his daughter, Princess Vivi. It's called a formal dinner, but really, we will be remaining there for a week, and at the end of the week, a masquerade ball will be held. I would be greatly honored if you would attend with me… as my date. I will pay for all your expenses, including gowns for you to wear."

Nami sputtered in an attempt to speak, but she was left completely speechless. "Holy shit," Nojiko whispered with her eyes wide. Her sister would attend a royal dinner? She was so jealous!

"I-I-W-Well-Um," Nami stuttered, but then she cleared her throat.

Red huffed with a purse to his lips, and like a petulant child, he folded his arms across his chest. What the hell was Sanji doing? However, he said nothing and waited for the young woman to reply. "It's all right, if you do not wish to go," Sanji said and bowed his head.

"I-No," Nami replied quickly and took a deep breath. "I would be honored," she said and bowed in turn to him.

"The honor is mine, my dear," Sanji said, taking her hand within his to kiss the back of it. "I will make all the preparations and schedule you for a fitting."

"Hold on," Zoro said, taking a step forward, and Sanji instantly frowned at him, "wherever she goes, I go. You honestly think I'm going to trust you to keep her safe." He instantly glared at the blonde man, who regarded him the same.

"And you think I can't-"

"Hell no, I don't think you can. As it is, someone tried to assassinate your ass twice in one day," Zoro said and took a step towards him.

"Yeah, and where the hell were you during all of this, hmm?" Sanji asked, also stepping up to him.

"Fuck you, asshole," Zoro seethed as both came face to face, both looking about ready to throwdown.

"Well, if Zoro's going, I will be his date," Nojiko said out of the blue. There was no way she was missing out on this!

Sanji instantly turned away from Zoro to bow to Nojiko. "It would be my honor, if you were to attend as well, my dear. I will make all of the arrangements for you as well."

"And for Zoro too, of course, right?" Nojiko said with a smirk as she quirked a brow at Sanji. "I wouldn't want my date to look shabby, now would I?"

"Nojiko!" Nami exclaimed, her eyes wide and appalled.

Sanji was silent for only a few seconds as he remained in his bowed position, but then he growled out, "Preparations will be made for him as well."

Nojiko giggled and said, "You are a perfect gentleman, Mr. Zeff!"

"Please, call me Sanji," Sanji said and stood straight once again.

"Nojiko," Nami called again in a reprimand and frowned to her sister.

"Sanji it is, then," Nojiko said with a bright smile and ignored her sister.

"Thank you, Sanji," Nami said with a sigh, at least not forgetting her manners for all he was willing to do for them.

"The pleasure is mine. There is no need for thanks, my dear," Sanji said, bowing to Nami, and then he stood straight to smile to her.

Chuckling softly, Nami smiled and nodded her head to him. "Until we meet again then."

"I await that day eagerly," Sanji said, once again taking her hand to kiss the back of it.

Nami smiled to him, took back her hand and then turned to look at Red. Losing her smile, she then stepped up to him, but did not speak right away, and then she finally said, "It was nice to meet you as well, Red. I'm glad you're okay and will be going home today."

Red blinked up at her; a bit surprised she was even speaking to him. However, he smiled to her brightly with a chuckle and said, "Thanks, Nami. It was really nice to meet you. I'm glad we'll be seeing you again. I would still like to get my chance to pay you back someday. Maybe now I can. See you again soon."

Her cheeks flushed, but she smiled to him softly and nodded. "I'll see you again soon. Take care of yourself, okay?"

"I will! You too!"

"I will," she said with a soft chuckle before turning and heading back towards her sister and Zoro.

"Be safe," Sanji called and bowed his head towards them.

"We'll be fine," Zoro muttered, pressing his hand into Nami's upper back as he turned to leave with both girls. As they stepped out, Nami turned to look back over her shoulder, but then they turned and disappeared out of sight.

Red waved them off, but lowered his hand, once they were gone. He then looked up at Sanji and said, "You like her."

Sanji turned to the young man to regard him, but then he smiled with a nod. "I do."

Just staring back at him blankly for some time, he then said, "You like her more than the others."

"I do," Sanji repeated with another nod, and his smile grew. "She's definitely different, and she's amazing, and let's not forget, beautiful. What do you think about her?"

Again, he stared in silence for some time, but then Red said, "I like her too." He then turned his head to rest his eyes on the glass doors, and then Sanji quirked a brow after losing his smile, looking on curiously, but then he smiled.

"Is that so?" he asked and chuckled.

"Yeah, she's nice and cool," Red said and nodded his head before looking at Sanji again, but finally, he smiled. "I approve," he said and gave Sanji a thumbs up.

Scoffing into laughter, Sanji moved forward and ruffled Red's hair. "Oh, you approve, do you? And what, might I ask, would I have done, if you had not?"

"You would have had to find someone else!" Red said and laughed giddily as he attempted to bat away at Sanji.

"Oh, is that so?" Sanji said as he sat on the bed and wrapped his arm around Red's head to continue ruffling his hair.

"Ah! No, stop! Sanji!" Red exclaimed, but the laughter continued to bubble out of him.

However, when both heard a chuckle at the door, they both stopped to look, seeing Tony there. "Good to see you in such high spirits, Red," he said and stepped forward. "I've signed your release. You may change your clothes and go."

"Woohoo!" Red cheered as he threw up his arms and instantly threw back the sheets. "I won't be long, Sanji!" he said as he took his pack and disappeared into the bathroom.

Sanji watched him go before turning to Tony and asked, "Is he really going to be okay? He's never had two seizures in one day."

"He's also never had two upsets in one day like this," Tony said and sighed deeply. "Just keep him under surveillance. Make sure he's not alone for too long. I also have a list of foods for a diet change. I think it might help him a little. I also have a prescription of pills he will need to take once a day with a meal. Also, make sure he drinks lots of water."

"I will, thank you," Sanji said, taking the list as well as the prescription from him. "You've been invaluable to us, Tony."

"Red's a good kid. I will always look after him for as long as I'm a doctor," Tony said and smiled to Sanji.

The door to the bathroom was thrown open, and out stepped Red, fully dressed. "Okay, let's go, Sanji!" he said with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah," Sanji said with a chuckle and turned back to Tony. "See you around, Tony."

"See you later, Tony!" Red said with a grin and waved to the young doctor.

"See you both later. You take care of yourself, Red," Tony said and waved them off as well with a smile.

"I will!" Red called over his shoulder with a bright smile as he waved, and then he and Sanji left.

The moment they disappeared, Tony dropped his smile.

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note:** I wonder what that's all about… u.u Hmmm… Mysterious, mysterious… Anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter. ;)


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:** **You guys, come on. I'm not getting very many reviews, and the reviews I am getting, all I read is impatience. I'm pretty damn sure I labeled this story Luffy/Nami. You can check again, if you feel so unsure. It's going to happen. You just have to wait. I swear, you guys are ruining this for me, because I feel as if I'm no longer enjoying writing this, and you're ruining it for yourselves as well, because you're overthinking it. Chillax, read, enjoy and once it's all over, I promise you'll be satisfied. Have I ever failed to deliver? Anyways, enjoy this chapter…**

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 10**

The two weeks had past, the palace had been alerted to Sanji's guests attending, preparations had all been made, and all clothing had been delivered ahead of time to the palace in Asteron, all but what they would be wearing when they arrived there. Nami glanced up at the large palace with wide eyes. She was really there about to set foot into a king's domain, and it was not just a tour. She would actually be dining with royalty. It also hit her a few days ago, that she would also be spending time with a man so great, she felt breathless.

"Are you all right, my dear?" Sanji asked, having paused with her, but keeping her arm through his.

"I-Yes," she replied instantly with a quick nod. "I'm sorry. I'm just really nervous."

"Don't be, my dear. The king himself will be smitten with your beauty, and nothing else will matter to him," Sanji said and smiled to her softly.

"You'll be fine. It's not all that bad," Red said and snickered as he smiled to her. "They're just people, just like us, after all."

"No they're not! These people are royalty!" Nami hissed at him with wide eyes, thought her cheeks filled with heat.

"Yeah they are," he said and just laughed. "They eat, sleep and take a shit, just like everyone else-gah!"

"All right, that's enough out of you," Sanji said, having moved quickly to wrap an arm around Red's head to stop him from talking.

"Oh dear, you're a real charmer, Red," Nojiko said, but she was laughing softly with a bright smile. She liked this kid!

Zoro smirked, looking just as amused as Nojiko. Nami stared at the young man with her wide eyes, but then her lips quirked on one side. Soon, she was laughing as well, and surprisingly, she felt more relaxed. "You're right, Red. I shouldn't make a big deal out of it. They are just people, after all."

"That's right!" Red said, giving her a thumbs up and a grin through the arm wrapped around his head. Nami gave him a softer smile in reply.

"Yes, yes, that's enough, you. Now stand straight," Sanji said and even straightened out Red's hair for him as well as his clothes. It was clear the affection the man held for the young man, like an older brother would hold for his younger brother. Red just laughed, but stood straight and still for Sanji to assess him. "All right, now let's be presentable to the King's men."

"Yes, Sanji!" he replied, keeping his bright smile, and then he turned to head up the many stairs, where two men were awaiting them. Red ran up to them, held up his hand and called, "Yo!"

Sanji moved up quickly and blocked him off before smiling to the gentlemen. "Ah, hello there." Red pouted at his back, but took a step back.

Both extremely tall men smiled, one very thin with black, puffy hair and a pair of sunglasses, the other with light blue hair, very buff, and wearing sunglasses as well. The light blue haired man grinned to Red as he held up his hand and said, "Yo!"

"Yohohoho!" the other laughed and bowed deeply, pressing his arm into his torso. "It is an honor to be receiving the two of you for dinner. King Cobra and Princess Vivi are thrilled!"

Someone from behind them cleared his throat loudly and drew everyone's attention. "Ah, Captain Igaram, sir," the thin man said and bowed to him, though the buff man also bowed to him.

"Franky, Brooke, take our guests to their suites to rest and prepare for tonight's dinner," Igaram said, his eyes on their guests. "Welcome to King Cobra's palace, honored guests. We have gone to great lengths to make sure your stays are as comfortable as possible. Please do not hesitate to inform us if something is not to your liking."

"Thank you, Captain Igaram," Sanji said and bowed to him.

"Please, right this way," Brooke said, bowing again and motioning his arm towards the entrance.

Everyone filed in, following after Franky and Igaram, who stepped in before them, and then Brooke brought up the rear. "There is a telephone within your rooms with a direct line to the staff. Merely pick it up, and a voice will answer you. So please, let us know if there is anything you need," Franky said as they walked, taking them up a grand marble stair case and up to the third floor. He then walked down the left wing and began opening doors, a room for each of them.

"Master Sanji, your room is here," Brooke said, bowing and motioning to the room before moving off to another. "Master Red, this is yours." He did the same for each room, directing each of them to one.

"Thank you, the both of you," Sanji said and smiled as he bowed to them.

"It was our pleasure, Master Sanji," Brooke said as both he and Franky bowed, and then both headed off back down the hall towards the stair case.

"Sanji, this is awesome!" Red called from within his room, having left the door open. "The bathroom is huge! And look, there's a mini fridge, filled with all kinds of drinks!"

Sanji chuckled as he moved to peer into the young man's room. He watched as the young man ran and jumped onto his bed. "Ooh, this bed is so comfortable!"

"And yours is not, at home?" Sanji asked with a grin as he leaned against the wall of the tiny hall leading into the room.

"Yeah, but this bed is bigger!" Red said and spread out. "Mm, I could fall asleep right now… but I'm hungry." He snickered.

"Yeah, yeah," Sanji said with a chuckle and a shake of his head. "Dinner is soon. Why don't you get ready for it? We'll need to look presentable to the other guests who will be here tonight."

Sighing out dramatically, Red stared up at the carved moldings of the high ceiling, and then he nodded. "Yeah, all right… At least the others will be there. I like them. I'm glad you invited them."

Smiling softly, Sanji nodded his head slowly and said, "I'm glad you get along with them. They all seemed to enjoy talking to you on the flight here."

"Yeah!" Red said as he sat up with a smile to look at him. "All right, Sanji, I'll get ready now."

"You do that," Sanji said, smiling wider as he turned to leave. "I'll go get myself ready as well."

After the men were ready, they headed out and were led downstairs to the dining room ahead of the ladies, who were still getting ready with the help of a hair dresser and makeup artist. Red was very antsy as they walked, and Sanji had to tell him to relax himself. As the three entered the room, decorated elaborately with golds and creams, there were others already within the room waiting, and Red stiffened. There were a lot more than he was expecting. He really did not like large crowds, and a lot of them looked to be royalty from other kingdoms.

Sanji, Zoro and Red were introduced to every man and woman within the room. The last man to be introduced to them stepped up with a ghost of a smile. "Lastly, we have Prince Ace D. Gol, first crowned prince of the kingdom Spaderon and son to King Roger D. Gol. He has come in his father's stead. Your majesty, Red, Sanji Zeff, and Zoro Roronoa," Brooke said and bowed as he motioned the man to them.

Ace paused before them, his eyes meeting with Red's first, and then he slowly held out his hand to him. "It's a pleasure, Red. No last name?" he said and smiled a little wider, though slowly.

"Don't need one," Red muttered as he swallowed and took Ace's hand within his, but gasped to the tight grip Ace gave him.

"Red, manners," Sanji muttered and elbowed the young man.

Red grunted, but then said, "Don't need one… your majesty." He nearly sneered the title, making Ace smile wider, though again, slowly.

"I see," Ace muttered with a chuckle, staring at him for a while longer, but then he released Red's hand, who was then left to nurse it, and moved on to Sanji. "Sanji, it's a great pleasure to be meeting you. I've wanted to meet you for quite some time," he said, now taking Sanji's hand into a tight hold.

Sanji did not flinch, but instead gripped his hand just as tightly. "It's a great honor, your majesty," he said and then bowed over their clasped hands.

Ace chuckled and nodded his head, but then he moved off to Zoro. "Zoro Roronoa, it's a pleasure to meet you as well," he said and shook his hand.

"It's nice to meet you, your majesty," Zoro said, keeping a straight face as he shook Ace's hand.

Grinning widely to this, Ace pulled his hand back and said, "We should throw back a few pints at some point during this party and kick back. I bet you have a lot of stories to tell."

Zoro smirked, seeing a kindred spirit within the prince and nodded. "Now that would be a pleasure, your majesty."

Sanji scoffed quietly and glared at Zoro, but then he just faced forward. For some reason, Red thought it a good time to burst into laughter, finding it amusing for some reason. "I want to join!"

Ace grinned to Red as well and said, "Sounds like the makings of an even better party!"

"Miss Nami and Nojiko Tange," Franky called from the open doorway, causing everyone to turn and gape at the two very beautiful women. Each wore a beautiful gown to match their hair, which was done up beautifully with pearls. Nami wore a cream colored gown with golden accents, which matched the room, while Nojiko wore a white gown, accented with silver.

Ace whistled as he gaped at both women and then cleared his throat. Sanji's jaw nearly dropped, but he had better control over himself. Nami was by far the most beautiful woman he had ever encountered. Red's jaw did drop. He blinked a few times, but then he said, "Wow, Nami, you're pretty."

Sanji instantly and instinctively wrapped his arm around the boy's head to stop him from talking, even if it was too late, though his eyes never left Nami. Nami flushed to Red's blunt compliment and smiled with a soft chuckle. "Thank you, Red," she said and lowered her eyes.

"My dear," Sanji said, nearly feeling breathless, "you are by far the most beautiful woman in this world." He then turned to Nojiko and said, "And you, my dear, are right up there with her." He released Red and bowed gracefully to both women.

Nojiko chuckled and said, "Thanks, Sanji, but you're wrong. I'm nowhere near the beauty of my sister. I can only ever come in second."

"Nojiko," Nami called, her face heating with embarrassment and even some shyness.

"It's true," Nojiko said, but she looked to her sister with affection, not jealousy.

"My dear, allow me to introduce you to everyone here," Sanji said, looping Nami's arm through his and directing her to Ace. "This, my dear, is Prince Ace D. Gol from the kingdom of Spaderon," he said and motioned to Ace.

"It is an absolute delight to meet you," Ace said, his eyes sparkling as he held his hand out to Nami and bowed to her.

Gasping softly, Nami just stared back at Ace with wide eyes as if she had been startled and hesitated before finally slipping her hand within his. "It's an honor, your majesty," she said quietly and then curtsied to him, something she had learned to do, not but ten minutes before.

"The honor is most certainly all mine," Ace said and kissed the back of her hand. "I might just have to steal you from Sanji here."

Her face instantly flushed with a bright red color, and Sanji's grip on her arm tightened as he cleared his throat. "Your majesty," Sanji said with a frown.

Ace chuckled in amusement and said, "Don't get your nerves all tangled into a bunch, Sanji. I was only joking-half joking." As he said this, his eyes shifted to the side slightly, but he looked even more amused.

"Yes, of course, your majesty," Sanji said, but still did not smile.

On the other hand, Zoro was snickering in amusement. He definitely liked this prince! Anyone that could make Sanji squirm was a comrade to him. Sanji instantly set a glare on Zoro, but Zoro merely smirked in response. Nojiko chuckled and slipped her arm through Zoro's. "You really don't like him, do you?" she whispered to him as Ace and Sanji spoke.

"I told you. He's fake," Zoro muttered in reply to her and held her arm. "I like this prince dude, though," he said and smirked.

"He's pretty cute," Nojiko said and smirked. "Love his freckles."

"Also allow me to introduce to you Nojiko, Nami's sister," Sanji was saying as he motioned to Nojiko.

Ace turned to her and smiled. He stepped up and also held his hand out to her as he bowed. "Another delight I have experienced tonight. It's a great pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasure's all mine, princey-Ah, I mean your majesty," Nojiko said with a sultry smile as she elegantly placed her hand within his.

Ace instantly grinned brightly with an amused chuckle and took her hand within his, kissing the back of it lingeringly. Nami groaned and covered her face with a hand in embarrassment of her sister. "Nojiko," she whined quietly.

"What?" Nojiko asked as she smirked to Nami.

"Forget it," Nami muttered and sighed. What was the point in asking her _older_ sister to behave herself? However, everyone's attention was once again directed to the open entry doors to the dining room.

"Ladies and gentleman, if I may have your attention, please? Presenting his Royal Majesty, King Cobra, and his daughter, the Princess Vivi."

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note:** So, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Stay tuned for the next one.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note:** All right, so here's the next chapter. I've been busy lately with family and spending time with them, since we're just getting back. It's been so long, I nearly forgot what it was like to be social. xD Either way, I've been stealing away moments to be able to write. I think I would have finished the whole story by now, if it wasn't for being so social. Been watching a lot of movies and such. Like tonight, we go to see Riddick. YEAH BABY! I love Vin Diesel, and I love Riddick! :D I will try my best to write tonight. If not, it will be tomorrow. I gots shopping to do right now, after I post this. Anyways, I've got 17 chapters completed, so far. It's all beginning to come together. ;) Anyways, enjoy this chapter! :D

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 11**

King Cobra and Princess Vivi both stepped in together with Vivi's arm through her father's. "Thank you, everyone, for coming," Cobra said and smiled to his guests. He then turned to Sanji and his group and smiled even wider. "Ah! The guests of honor!" he said and headed right for them with his daughter.

"It is a great honor indeed to be a guest in your house, your majesty," Sanji said and bowed deeply to father and daughter. Everyone else followed and bowed or curtsied to the king and princess.

"It's so good to finally meet you in person, Sanji," the king said, releasing his daughter's arm and clasp Sanji's hand with both of his to shake. "You've done so much for us; for all of us, to which we are forever grateful and forever in your debt."

There were a few voices in agreement, though heartily spoken, and all were smiling at Sanji. "Thank you, your majesty; to all of you. I did it for us all; for this world we all live in. We must always stand united and help to keep support of one another. We must live, and we must also live together. I expect no debts be paid for this, your majesty," Sanji said and bowed his head to him. There were cheers of applause for his words.

"An honorable man," Cobra said and clutched his shoulder in his appreciation, and then he shifted his eyes to Red. "And you, young sir, you assist Sanji in all of these endeavors. We are grateful to you as well."

Red chuckled and said, "It's no problem!" Sanji elbowed him. "Ah, your majesty."

Cobra threw his head back and laughed, now clapping his hand down over Red's shoulder. "It's quite all right, my boy! Thank you both for indulging this old man in coming here!"

"It was our honor, your majesty," Sanji said and smiled to the man.

"Yeah, what he said-Ah, your majesty!" Red said and chuckled as well.

"Please, I would love for the both of you to meet my daughter, Vivi," Cobra said and motioned to the princess.

"It's the greatest honor to meet you, Princess Vivi," Sanji said with a bow and held his hand out for hers. When she placed it in his, he kissed the back of it.

"Thank you, Mr. Zeff. I was very thrilled to meet you as well as your companion," Vivi said and smiled to him with a soft, genuine smile as her cheeks flushed. "I was very excited about this dinner."

"Princess," Red said, bowing half-hazardly to her, and he did not offer his hand, as Sanji did.

She smiled brightly to him anyway and said, "Thank you for coming as well, Mr. Red. I was afraid you would not. I had heard you usually don't come to these events. I'm so very glad you did." Her cheeks tinged a little brighter in color.

"Ah, yeah… I don't like people-Oof!" Red started, but was cut off from Sanji elbowing him in the ribs again.

"I must apologize for my friend, your majesty. He lacks manners. I must remember to reeducate him," Sanji said and chuckled nervously.

Vivi chuckled as well and said, "It's all right. Large crowds make me nervous. I can see where you're coming from, Mr. Red. I hope you can learn to be comfortable with us."

"Yeah, I guess so… Oof!" Red grunted, "Your majesty."

Vivi giggled this time and smiled more brightly to Red with an even deeper flush. "Please, everyone have a seat!" Cobra said and motioned towards the very large table, where everyone was directed to a seat. Sanji and his guests were directed to eat towards the head with the king and princess.

"It's a pleasure to meet Mr. Zeff and Mr. Red's acquaintances. We've heard what you did for them, Miss Tange. What you did was incredible and brave. The whole world would have mourned, had anything happened to them. We are also in your debt, and we're thrilled you were able to make this dinner," Vivi said and smiled softly to Nami.

Nami smiled to her as well, feeling comforted by such a warm smile. "Thank you, your majesty. I think anyone would have done what I did. The world would have indeed mourned such a great man."

"It really is a pity there are some in this world, who would want to do you harm, Sanji," Cobra said with a deep furrow to his brow. "I hope whoever is responsible is brought to justice soon."

"As do I! Such a cruel person. How is it that not everyone is happy about what you've done, Mr. Zeff.? It's a true tragedy," Vivi said and frowned sadly.

"I honestly couldn't say, your majesty. Perhaps they are no longer making the profit they were before. Greed can do this to people. They were most likely preying and taking advantage on those less fortunate," Sanji said with a slight frown as he gazed down at the table. "It can be anyone, and it might be near impossible to find out whom."

"That's terrible," Vivi muttered and shook her hand. "Perhaps we can all lend a hand in this person's capture," she said and looked to her father.

"Yes, perhaps," Cobra agreed immediately and nodded. There were others, who agreed along the table as well.

"It would be I, then, who would be in your debt, your majesty," Sanji said and bowed his head.

"Nonsense, call it repayment, if you like," Cobra said and smiled brightly.

Sanji grinned in return and said, "Then that is what we'll call it, your majesty."

"If you could help find these guys, that'd be great, uh, your majesty!" Red said and grinned to the king. "I don't want Sanji to die."

Sanji's eyes softened as he regarded the young man, and then he tenderly placed a hand on his head. "I wouldn't want this brat to die either," he said and smiled, making Red snicker.

The king chuckled affectionately and said, "Then I will make arrangements right away."

"Thank you, your majesty," Sanji said and bowed his head in appreciation to the man.

"Yeah, thanks! Ah, your majesty," Red said and grinned as well.

**In Another Kingdom…**

"Your majesty," a man called and quickly moved to kneel before his king.

"What is it?" the king asked, draped with pink feathers and with his back to the room to gaze out of his window. Beyond it was a crystal blue lake, where many pink exotic birds nested.

"The ones associated with him seem to be in the kingdom of Asteron with King Cobra."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, your majesty. We checked and double checked."

The blonde king turned a smirk to his man and said, "Excellent. Make the proper preparations. It seems we'll be paying a visit to his majesty, King Cobra."

"Yes, your majesty! But there's more, your majesty," the man said and looked up to his king.

"Oh is there? And what more could there possibly be?" the king smirked, looking very interested.

"The orange haired woman the men mentioned is with them," the man said and bowed his head.

Losing his smile, the blonde king turned around to gaze outside again. It started out small before turning into full blown laughter. "Even more excellent! We'll get multiple birds with one stone!"

"Yes, your majesty!" the man said, bowing even lower to the floor.

"You've done very well. You will be rewarded, but first, make those preparations I asked for," the king said and turned to him again.

"Yes, your majesty!" the man said and quickly stood to do as his king bid.

The king watched as he left and smirked as he turned back to the window.

"We'll see you soon, King Cobra."

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note: **Dun dun DUN! Uh ohs! Oh noes! I wonder what will happen! D: Oh wait, no I don't, because I already know. SNICKER. :P Stay tuned for the next chapter! :D


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note:** All right, so here it is. I got nothing to say, so… enjoy. O.o

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 12**

The next evening, after the second dinner event, it seemed Nami and her group, as well as Sanji and Red, got along very well with Princess Vivi as well as Prince Ace. So they gathered together in one of the many lounges upstairs to just hang out. All titles were dropped, as well as all formalities. They all just considered themselves as friends. On the watch for Vivi's protection were Brooke and Franky, who had also joined the small party. Each had a drink in their hands and were just talking and laughing.

"Oh my! Did he really do that, Sanji?" Vivi asked as they all laughed.

"Yes he did, the little prick," Sanji said, ruffling Red's hair, who was snickering with a bright smile.

"He deserved it!" he said, but then cried out and tried to get away as Sanji attempted to put his head into a lock again. This caused more laughter to erupt.

Nami giggled to the two, and she was not at all sure what made her do it. Perhaps it was something she saw from the corner of her eye, or perhaps it was just something she felt. She was not sure, but she glanced to the large open doorway. As she looked up, she saw him there. He gazed in at her for a moment, but then he continued on to the other side of the doorway and disappeared. Losing her smile, she sat motionless for a few moments, and she felt a heat enter her cheeks.

Clearing her throat, she shifted her eyes to the side, the others oblivious, and said, "Please, excuse me."

She then stood up and made her way out, turning instantly the direction he had gone. He was there, just at the end of the hall, and then he turned to gaze at her over his shoulder. He then turned the corner and disappeared once again. Taking in a soft breath, she slowly made her way down the long hall, letting her fingers slide along the wall. As she turned the corner, he was standing in the middle of the hall. He then suddenly turned and disappeared into a doorway. Biting her lip, she hesitated, but continued forward to carefully gaze into the room.

Inside was completely dark, but she could see moonlight coming in through open glass balcony doors, the sheer curtain fluttering to the gentle urgings of the wind. Stepping in tentatively, she looked about, just in case, but made her way out of the doors. The soft curtain slid over her as she stepped out, the light fabric tickling her flesh, and when it fell away from her, she could see him standing with his back to her, staring out over the large and round balcony. She stood in silence, just gazing at him in awe for a few moments, but then she finally took slow steps forward to stand beside him and look out over the darkness.

"You know who I am."

Nami turned to look at him. She did not reply right away, but then she finally said, "Yes, of course I do."

Nodding his head, he turned to look at her. "And yet, you did not tell anyone about me."

Slowly shaking her head, she whispered, "No, I did not."

"Why?"

Swallowing hard, she turned to look out over the darkness again and said, "You made sure of that, now didn't you?"

He smiled to her in the darkness, and a deep chuckle rumbled in his throat. "You still could have done it."

"No," she replied instantly and shook her head, "no, I could not betray you," she said in a whisper, feeling her heart pounding even harder than it already was. She could feel that warmth once again.

"Why?" he whispered, possibly because she did.

Swallowing hard again, she felt that heat engulf her, and she could not turn to face him. "Because… you saved me."

"You saved them," he replied quietly and turned to her fully. "I am very thankful to you for that."

"You protect him," she said, but then she turned to him as well and said, "You protect them."

"Of course I do," he said and smiled to her. "That boy," he said and lowered his head, though he kept his eyes on hers, "he is my mask, and Sanji… Sanji is his." He then smiled a bit more and said, "You still could have betrayed me, and you would have made a lot of money. Thank you… for _not_ betraying me."

"Of course," she whispered, lowering her gaze, "there was no way I could do it." Biting her lip, she then took in a breath and whispered, "Ever since I was young, I knew I'd find you." She then looked up at him and whispered again, "Since the day you went missing, I knew I would be the one to find you… Legendary Prince, Luffy."

Slowly, he began to smile at her, and then he chuckled. "Is that so?" he asked in amusement.

"Yes, that's so," she said, but then she began to smile and even laughed, though nervously as she looked down.

However, when he clutched her chin, she gasped and looked up at him, which was what he wanted. His lips closed in around hers, and all she could do was stare in shock. In the next instant, her knees gave out on her, and he was forced to wrap his arm around her to keep her from falling. Her eyes slid closed, and she felt as if she was melting against him. Her lips melded with his as she kissed him back, and slowly her arms twined around his neck. When his tongue slowly slid between her lips, she shuddered and whimpered, but accepted him into the heat of her mouth, twining her tongue with his.

After what seemed like an eternity, and after he stole her breath from her, he finally pulled away from her, but she could still feel the heat of his breath near her lips. "Thank you," he whispered to her, and she nearly felt it. "You have no idea how deeply my gratitude goes."

"Yes I do," she replied instantly and finally opened her eyes to look into his dark ones. "I knew what it meant."

He smiled down to her and slowly he nodded. "Thank you for understanding," he whispered and finally, he took a step back, releasing his hold on her.

She also took steps back, but also turned her body to walk backwards towards the open doors. She then nodded her head to him and said, "Of course, and I will continue to keep your secret for as long as I live."

"Thank you, I appreciate that," he said, pulling himself up onto the railing of the banister and standing up, but never turned his back to her. Seeing this, she gasped. What was he doing? They were on the third floor.

"Luffy?" she called in question. However, she saw him smile into the darkness as he spread his arms out, and then he arched back, kicking up one leg before the other as he elegantly flipped backwards over the ledge. "Luffy!" she cried and ran to the banister. However, the moment she got to it, all she saw were golden speckles of light floating about below, and then they disappeared altogether, leaving no trace of him. "Luffy," she whispered as she stared below.

As the others laughed together, Sanji happened to look up and see Nami standing in the doorway, looking far off and in a daze. Her lips were parted, and appeared a little rosier than before she left as did her cheeks. Her chest rose and fell deeply as she took heavy breaths. "My dear?" Sanji called to her in question, causing all attention to be drawn to the open door and the woman standing there. "Is everything all right?"

Nami slowly looked up at them and just smiled.

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note: **Oh dear… Oh dear-Oh dear… ./. This made me blush. How about you? Tee hee! It also made me very, very happy! I was giggling the whole time as I wrote! :3 Aww, Luffy! I love you so much! K3 If any of you actually listened to my inspiration song, tell me… did you see the lyrics? :3 Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed it, because it was one of my favorites! :D Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:** All right! So, here's the next chapter. I don't really got anything to say, so… Enjoy! xD

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 13**

Two more days passed, and their friendship together only seemed to grow. As a group, they walked outside within the gardens to enjoy the sunlight and beautiful weather. "Oh, these flowers are so beautiful," Nami said, stopping by a very big bloom and gently lifting it with the tips of her fingers to smell it.

"Yes, I love the gardens, and our gardener does such an exceptional job in caring for it," Vivi said and smiled brightly with pride for the garden.

"He does excellent work. All of these flowers are so lovely," Nami said and smiled softly.

"Ah, thank you, pretty lady!"

Turning quickly, Nami saw a grinning man with puffy brown hair tied in a ponytail and a very long nose. "Ah, Usopp!" Vivi exclaimed with a bright smile, and then she motioned to him as he bowed to her. "Everyone, this is Usopp, our gardener."

"Oh!" Nami said and smiled brightly to him as well. "This garden is beautiful, and it clearly reflects your love for it."

He snickered as he rubbed a finger under his elongated nose and puffed out his chest with pride. "I have to, of course, be a great gardener in order to maintain a king's garden!"

"All of these plants are pretty amazing," Red said, bringing his face close to one of the many flowers to just watch as it swayed in rhythm with the wind. "Look Nami, this one is orange, like you. Ah, I mean your hair."

Biting her lip, Nami lost her smile and turned to look at him as well as the flower. Her cheeks heated, but then she smiled softly. "Yes, it is. It's beautiful," she said, her voice much quieter.

"Not as much as you though," he said with a straight face and showing his seriousness to the comment.

"Oi, oi, oi," Sanji said, rubbing over Red's head roughly.

Nami's cheeks flamed even more, but then she chuckled and said, "Thank you, Red."

"Oi, Usopp," Red called, but kept his eyes on the flower as if not even noticing Sanji had rubbed over his hair, "can I pick it?"

"Oi, now hold on, Red. This is the king's garden, and if you're going to ask anyone, it should be Princess Vivi," Sanji said and quirked a brow at Red.

"Maybe it is the king's garden, but Usopp is the one who loves and cares for it. I wouldn't want to offend him, when he works so hard to maintain it, if I went and just picked it or asked someone else," Red said and pursed his lips at Sanji.

Vivi giggled with a flush as she brought her knuckle to her lips. "It's all right, Sanji."

Usopp looked _very _pleased to Red's directly asking him. He blinked his eyes a few times, but then his chest puffed out broadly as he smiled and said, "I would be honored, if you picked one of my flowers."

"Thanks, Usopp," Red said, sliding his fingers down the stem of the bright orange flower, and then he easily snapped it off. He then turned and held it out to Nami. "Here you go, Nami."

Blushing a little more warmly, Nami smiled softly to him and slowly extended her hand to take it from him. "Thank you, Red."

He chuckled and said, "You're welcome!"

"Oi, oi!" Sanji said, now pursing his lips at Red. He then wrapped an arm around him in a sort of hug. "What're you doing?"

"Giving Nami a flower," Red said, as if it was obvious, and he pursed his lips up at Sanji.

Nojiko chuckled softly as she leaned closer to Zoro and Ace and whispered, "I do believe the boy has a crush. I think it's sweet."

Zoro just hummed in reply in the affirmative with his arms crossed, but then he smiled. Watching Sanji become put out to the kid showing him up was amusing to him. Ace scoffed to this with a quirked brow, and he too looked amused. "Sweet? Don't crushes end badly? Isn't that why they're called crushes?"

Nojiko chuckled and said, "He'll get over it, I'm sure. I think he's adorable though."

"Then why don't you date him?" Zoro asked with a smirk.

"Don't get adorable confused with hot. He's just a kid. He hasn't even left his teens yet, and I'm twenty-four. I'm an old lady to that kid," Nojiko said and chuckled in her own amusement. "I need me a man who's hot." She then turned to Ace with a smirk and said, "Speaking of which…"

Ace shifted his eyes to her and smirked in return. "Oh, for fuck's sake. I'm out of here, if you're going to start flirting," Zoro said and moved off to sit under a tree. He would get a nap in.

Nojiko just chuckled as she watched Zoro walk away. It was fun making _him_ squirm. "He needs to find himself a woman."

Chuckling to this, Ace turned and watched as the green haired man folded his arms behind his head and shut his eyes. "What type of woman does he like?"

"Hell if I know," Nojiko said and shook her head. "He's always treated us like sisters. Not once have I ever really seen him hold any interest for a woman, and _we_ _grew up_ with him."

"Interesting, maybe he has no interest for women. He seems to like me just fine," Ace said and smirked to her.

This made her laugh, but then she waved a hand and said, "Oh no, it's not what you think. He seems to dislike men altogether too. He can make a friend of both, but he never shows interest in _that_ way. I think he just needs to meet the right person."

"Male _or_ female?" Ace said and smirked more in amusement.

"Yeah, maybe," Nojiko said and just laughed again. "No, I think he just needs a good woman to keep him in line. I think I do know him well enough to know he has absolutely no interest in men in that way." She smiled more softly as she gazed back at Zoro again. "He needs a good woman, who will take care of him. He's always looking after us, and we're very grateful to him for it."

Ace turned to smile at her, but did not reply this time. Instead, he turned to pluck one of the flowers, without asking as Red did, and held it out to her. "Maybe someday he will. Maybe someday… we all will," he said softly to her.

Looking up to the flower, Nojiko could only gaze at it in silence for a few moments, but then she slowly reached out to take it from him as her cheeks heated just slightly. "Yes, maybe we will," she said, just as softly and smiled to him. She then turned to head towards her sister as she brought the flower up to smell it. She then called over her shoulder, "You probably should have asked permission first." She then flashed him a smirk over her shoulder.

Ace grinned widely and followed after this spunky woman. He liked her.

"Oi, Usopp, you should come hang out with us some time. We all like to have drinks and just talk," Red said and smiled to Usopp.

"Eh? Really?" Usopp asked and blinked as he looked to each face there, even the two of the princess' guards, who were both grinning at him.

"Yeah, really," Red said and chuckled.

"We would love that very much, if you did, Usopp," Vivi said and smiled to him.

"You could tell us all about your garden," Nami said, smiling behind her flower, which she held over her lips and nose.

Usopp looked between them all, but then his face broke into a bright smile. "I'd like that!"

"Nice! Come with us then," Red said and snickered as he continued on through the garden.

"Ah, okay!" Usopp said and scurried after him to walk beside him.

Nami smiled, watching as the two grinned to each other and talked. She then finally took a step to follow them.

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note: **Yay! Usopp! :D Don't be disappointed though, some of the SHs are not going to be main characters. It's just not how this story works. I hate having to force them, but this is much more natural. I'm okay with it. :) Anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter! :D


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:** I just wanted to let you guys know… I finished this fic last night. :3 That's right, it actually ENDS! Aren't you guys thrilled? I know I am! XD I still need to do a few tweaks and make sure it's all where I want it to be. I also need to make sure I didn't forget everything. Aah, the perks to writing chapters ahead. I get to make sure there are no mistakes with the story. :3 I will still be posting a chapter a day though, so don't get your hopes up, that I'll just post them all at once. xD If I'm feeling generous, I may post two in one day. :P Anyways, I won't keep you guys. Enjoy this chapter! :D

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 14**

"Ah, I see you found my favorite spot."

Opening a single eye, Zoro gazed up at the long, black haired with brilliant blue eyes woman standing above him, holding a book before her and smiling down at him. Opening the other eye, he then tilted his head back to look up at the tree, and then he looked back down at her again. "It's a pretty big tree."

Chuckling softly and taking the hint, she then went to sit against the tree to the side of him and opened her book. Quirking a brow, Zoro just shrugged again, closed his eyes and again attempted at getting his nap in.

"Mm? Who's that sitting with Zoro?" Nojiko asked, after they had rounded a corner to begin heading back.

"Ah, that's Robin Nico, my father's chief advisor," Vivi said and smiled brightly. "I had nearly forgotten that's her favorite place to read during her times off."

"She's beautiful and exotic," Nojiko said with big eyes.

"She is beautiful," Nami agreed and nodded slowly.

"Shall I introduce you to her?" Vivi asked and smiled to them kindly.

"Sure, why not? There are a lot of interesting people here," Red said with a shrug as he stared at this woman.

"I suppose that would be nice," Nami said and blinked as she watched the woman as well.

"I would not mind at all," Sanji said and smiled to Vivi, who smiled in return.

"I just want to meet her, because she's sitting next to Zoro," Nojiko said and quirked a brow.

Nami pursed her lips and nudged her sister. "Nojiko…"

"What?" Nojiko asked, turning that quirked brow at her sister. "I'm just curious. Zoro's a scary lookin' guy. She's got balls to want to even ask if she can sit beside him. Most people would have instantly avoided him."

Groaning deeply, Nami brought a hand up to her forehead in embarrassment of her sister's brazenness. She supposed she should have been used to it by now. Red and Ace decided to find Nojiko's words amusing and just laughed, which caused the moss haired man's eye to open. He looked over to them, and then he opened the other eye. Why were they all looking at him? The sound of their laughter also made Robin lower her book and look up towards them, noting that they were heading over to the two of them.

"Robin," Vivi greeted with a smile and a nod.

"Princess," Robin replied in greeting and bowed her head more deeply.

"Robin, these are Sanji's acquaintances. They were interested in meeting you," Vivi said and chuckled softly.

"Ah," Robin said and smiled to them kindly as she closed and set her book aside. She then stood up and bowed to them. "It would be my pleasure to meet you all."

Vivi smiled brightly and motioned to Sanji first. "Robin, of course you know Sanji Zeff, and this here is his assistant Red."

"It is a great pleasure to meet you, my dear," Sanji said, taking Robin's hand and kissing the back of it.

"Hello, Robin," Red said and held up a hand in greeting.

"And this is Nami Tange, and her sister Nojiko Tange," Vivi said, now motioning to the sisters.

"Hello, Robin, it's nice to meet you," Nami said and bowed her head to her in greeting with a smile.

"I see he didn't scare you off," Nojiko said and smirked to the woman.

"Nojiko!" Nami reprimanded, but then she just sighed. There was no use in getting after her older sister. She did what she liked.

Robin closed her eyes into her smile and chuckled softly. "Why should he have? I did not see an intimidating man. I saw a man of peace. He held a face of serenity, not a scowl, even if his eyes were closed. He does not seem like a violent man, but a calm soul. I knew we could both sit in silence, and I would be able to read as he continued his nap."

Nojiko's brows went straight up as she regarded this woman, and then she suddenly said, "I like you."

Robin chuckled and said, "Thank you very much."

Even Nami was surprised by this woman's words. Anyone, who came across Zoro, was always intimidated by him. It was why she felt safe with him around. However, for this woman to take a guess at his true nature and be right, it was quite incredible. It was no wonder this woman was the king's chief advisor. Even Zoro was just staring up at this woman with a quirked brow. Was she for real?

Vivi chuckled, finding this amusing, but then she said, "Robin, this man here is Zoro Roronoa."

"Yes, because he would never introduce himself," Nojiko said and smirked at Zoro, who rolled his eyes away from her.

Turning to the moss haired man, Robin smiled and bowed to him. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for sharing this tree with me."

"It wasn't a big deal. It's your favorite spot. I'm the one trespassing here," Zoro muttered, but kept his gaze to the side.

"Aww, don't be shy, Zoro," Nojiko said and smirked wider. She was enjoying this!

"Who's shy?" Zoro asked and turned a glare to her.

"All right-all right," Nami said and held up her hands. "Please calm down, children."

Sanji chuckled to this and smirked as well. Now it was his turn to enjoy watching the other man squirm. Zoro instantly turned his glare on him. "What's so funny, curled brow?"

"Your lack of etiquette, for starters," Sanji replied and smirked wider.

Zoro was on his feet instantly. "What was that, prince of lies?"

Sanji instantly lost his smile and nearly scowled. "Prince of lies?"

Red shifted his eyes between them, but his expression remained blank. He hardly ever saw Sanji lose his cool this way. Nojiko chuckled as she leaned over to Robin and said, "What was that about him not seeming like a violent man?"

Robin just smiled to her kindly and said, "He is not a man prone to violence for no reason. However, when provoked…"

This made Nojiko laughed, looking very amused. "You got that right, sister!"

"All right-all right! Children, please!" Nami said, slipping in between both men and pressing her hands into their chests to separate them.

"Ch-Children?" Sanji asked with his eyes going wide as he blinked down at Nami.

"Oi, who're you calling a child?" Zoro asked and pursed his lips at her.

"The two of you, obviously," Nami said and glared at him. "Behave yourself."

Ace stood beside Red and was just snickering. He was highly amused with everything. Hanging out with these people was the most fun he had had in… well… in years. He slowly lost his smile and shifted his eyes to the side.

Clearing his throat, Sanji fixed his tie and muttered, "I apologize, my dear."

"Um, and… this is Prince Ace D. Gol," Vivi said and motioned to Ace.

"Prince Ace," Robin said and bowed to him.

Ace just snickered with a grin, still amused from the others. "Whatever," Zoro said and turned his back on them. He then slammed his back against the tree and slid down it. "I'm going back to sleep."

"It was nice meeting you all," Robin said and bowed to them, but then she went to sit back down as well. Lifting up her book, she continued where she left off.

Nojiko chuckled to this and said, "You should hang out with us some time too, Robin."

Looking up from her book, Robin smiled her kind smile and said, "I would love to."

"Then tonight, you should have a drink with us after dinner," Nojiko said and grinned.

"I'll be there," Robin said, and then she went back to reading.

"So, should we head back inside?" Vivi asked and smiled to everyone.

"Yes, I suppose we could," Nami said and looked towards the palace.

"Maybe we can watch some TV together," Nojiko said as they all headed inside.

Red pursed his lips and muttered, "TV."

"What's wrong with TV?" Nojiko asked and quirked a brow at him.

"Nothing," he muttered and shrugged.

"Television would be nice. I'm feeling a bit detached from the world," Sanji said and chuckled as he gently rubbed over Red's head.

"I wouldn't mind," Nami muttered as well, keeping the flower close to her face. It had such a wonderful scent.

"I wouldn't mind that either," Vivi said and smiled brightly.

"TV it is then," Nojiko said and nodded with a smile as well.

As the others walked away and their words began to fade, Zoro slowly opened an eye to watch them, but then he shifted it over to the silent woman beside him. She turned a page, and then she suddenly said, "You're very good at reading people as well, aren't you?"

He did not speak right away, keeping his one eye in her direction, but then he opened the other as he shifted them to watched the others' retreating backs. Tilting his chin back, his lips then curved into a ghost of a smile.

"Yes."

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note:** Ha! Robin and Zoro… I like them, and I was recently told someone else liked them too! xD I hope you like them as well. If not, too damn bad. xD I don't mind Zoro x Tashigi, but I just have a soft spot for Zoro x Robin. :P Hotspot the 626th, you were right about Robin. xD Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Stay tuned for the next one! :D


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note:** I'm quite fond of this chapter. :) Hope you guys like it too. xD Enjoy!

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 15**

As they made their way back inside the palace, their voices and laughter echoed off the very tall ceilings and walls as they chattered, nearly all at once. The many servants and guards standing about smiled as they passed. They all headed up the stairs to the third floor and right into an entertainment room, which Vivi directed them to.

Taking up the remote, Vivi then walked over and handed it to Nojiko. "Since you suggested it," she said and smiled it to her.

"Ha! I have control now, bitches! You have to watch what I want to watch!" Nojiko said with a snicker as she turned it on and began surfacing.

Nami groaned to her sister's behavior and shook her head. "Nojiko," she whined, but then she just sighed, especially since Ace was snickering, since he found Nojiko amusing.

Red also groaned and pouted as he slinked down into his chair. "What're you going to watch?"

"I guess you just have to wait and see, now don't ya? I have to see what's on first," Nojiko said and chuckled as she checked the guide. "Hmm… Ooh! Let's see what's here!"

"Aww, man! Not a news cast! I hate those! They're boring! Sanji always likes watching that crap!" Red complained and slinked even lower in his chair.

"I don't mind. I don't think she wants to watch the whole thing," Usopp said from beside Red and pat his shoulder, but Red just pursed his lips to him.

"Quit whinin', ya big baby! I just want to see real quick," Nojiko said and chuckled as she turned her body just slightly to pat the boy's knee from where he sat on the back row, though she kept her eyes on the screen.

"See?" Usopp said and snickered, especially to Nojiko patting Red's knee as well.

"Yeah, yeah," Red muttered and huffed out a sigh.

Sanji just chuckled and watched as well. He was interested in what was going on. Everyone else just watched silently without complaint; perhaps also interested.

"…_worried that more conflict might break out between these two nations. The Sovereign King Garp was forced to intervene to keep the peace. More treaties are expected to be signed, and we all pray everything goes well with these two bickering nations. We're sure the sovereign king will make sure everything goes smoothly. We all have faith in him."_

"_Indeed we do, Sharyl. The sovereign king has never let us down before. In other news, it's about that time again."_

"_Yes, it is, Jeffery. This coming Friday is May 5__th__, a world holiday for all, and everyone around the world will be celebrating the still missing, Legendary Prince Luffy's birthday. If the prince was still with us, he would be turning twenty-three this Friday. Wherever you are, Prince Luffy, we're thinking of you."_

"Do we have to keep watching this crap? No one cares about the missing prince's birthday. He's probably dead anyway, and so can't appreciate it," Red muttered with a pout to his lips.

"Hey, who says we don't care?" Nojiko said and quirked a brow to him. "You know, my sister is working towards trying to track him down. We all have faith that one day, he'll be returned to us."

"Nojiko," Nami muttered, but kept her eyes averted, though she was frowning.

"Yeah? And what if your precious prince doesn't want to be returned to anybody? What if he abandoned our asses? What if he's just some spoiled brat, who wanted to just have a good time all the time? Or what if he just plain doesn't want to be found? What if he doesn't want to be famous? You don't know anything about him. He's just like everyone else! He's nothing! There are even some crazy assholes, who created a stupid religion out of him! A religion! And seriously, what kind of pompous asshole makes a holiday out of his birthday? What kind of bullshit is that?" Red said and narrowed his eyes at Nojiko. "People are so damned weird."

"Red," Sanji called and clasped his shoulder, "that's enough. Calm down."

Huffing out, Red crossed his arms tighter over his chest and averted his eyes as he slid down more into his chair. Nojiko had pursed her lips at the boy, but then she huffed with a smile. "I guess you're right, kid. We don't know anything about him. We don't know him at all."

"Of course not," Red muttered, but he still looked huffy.

Nami bit her lip and kept her gaze on her lap, and silence seemed to blanket them all. Vivi cleared her throat as she glanced between them and muttered, "Actually, we made the formal dinner this week, because of the prince's birthday. The ball was to celebrate it as well."

"You see, Red? Now you've gone and offended the princess," Sanji said and frowned deeply to Red.

"Ah, it's okay. I was… actually more worried I would offend Red. I just… wanted to be honest," Vivi muttered and lowered her head.

Losing his pout, Red shifted his eyes to Vivi, and then he sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get upset. I just don't understand people. It's not like he did anything for us, and yet, people celebrate him, as if he was someone amazing, but he's not. He just happens to be the sovereign king's grandson, and he's worth a lot of money. So what? Sanji's the one, who has done so much for everyone, but I don't recall there being a holiday for him."

"Ah, I don't need a holiday," Sanji replied immediately with a frown.

"I know you don't. I was just saying," Red said and shrugged.

"Pff, I hear ya, Red. I'm a prince, and I don't have a damned holiday. Not that I want one, anyway-Pff, who am I kidding? A holiday just for me would be awesome!" Ace said and just laughed, making Red purse his lips at him now, though he added a glare.

Vivi smiled to Red softly with a flush to her cheeks and said, "I think, at the time, people just needed some sort of symbol of hope. The prince just suddenly went missing, and so their hope was… maybe he will be found. Maybe there is a happy ending after all, even if we can't have it. Perhaps they're still hoping for it. What you and Sanji have done for this world can never be forgotten. Perhaps one day there will be a holiday for our saviors. Perhaps I will declare one."

"Ah, please don't," Sanji said and frowned more softly as he looked over to her.

Red snickered to this and said, "You're going to make Sanji squirm right out of his chair, Vivi!"

Vivi giggled softly as she looked over to Sanji and said, "But he deserves the praise. So many were held under harsh oppression, and because of him… so many were liberated. It wasn't just the people, but whole kingdoms as well. There were many nations holding other nations under their thumbs. Ours was one of them. You have no idea how thankful and how grateful we are to you both for what you've been willing to do for us; even to risk your life for us. It's amazing, Sanji."

Nami bit her lip hard, feeling her tears swarming her eyes. However, she said nothing and just looked away from them. Nojiko chuckled softly and said, "That's for damn sure."

Sanji cleared his throat, keeping the same frown as he looked to the side. He still felt he did not deserve their praise. "Thank you, but… Red deserves praise as well," he said, wanting the attention off from him.

"Ah, I didn't do much," Red said, now frowning at Sanji for throwing him under the bus.

"Yes, that's right. You helped with that too, Red," Vivi said and smiled even more softly to him. "You're a great man too."

Red's eyes widened, just staring at the princess, but then he shifted his eyes away with a blink. "If you say so," he muttered. He did not want to be praised.

"I couldn't have done it without you, Red," Sanji said, but there was much more meaning behind his words. Red shifted his eyes to him, but then he just nodded.

"You know, we should probably start getting ready for tonight's dinner. Maybe we should head out to wake up Zoro," Nojiko said after turning off the television.

"We could all go to retrieve him, and then we can all get ready," Vivi suggested with a smile, and everyone stood in agreement.

As they all headed out, Red lingered behind and just watched them with a slight frown creasing his brow. No one even seemed to notice he had lagged behind. He then suddenly turned his head to the side, when he saw motion. A hand clapped over his mouth, and then he was suddenly pulled into an empty room. The door was silently shut, and he was thrown against a wall. The hand remained over his mouth to keep him from crying out. However, Red had no intention of screaming out for help. He gazed back at his captor with a look of boredom.

"Now that I've got your attention, you're going to listen to me, you little prick. If you want to live, you're going to do exactly as I say. Nod if you understand me," the man whispered to him. Quirking a brow, Red nodded slowly in reply. "Good, now you're going to bring your boss Sanji right to me. He and I need to have a little talk. And if you don't bring him, or if you warn him or anyone, everyone here dies. Do you understand me? " Red rolled his eyes. Another assassin? Was this guy seriously dumb enough to come to this palace? Obviously he was. Perhaps he thought no one would be stupid enough to do it, and if the man was skilled enough… However, Red nodded his head in agreement, and the man removed his hand from over his mouth.

Red's lips parted, and he said calmly, "You're going to regret ever setting foot inside this palace, asshole."

"What?" the man said, looking confused, but suddenly a strong body ran into him and slammed him down onto the ground.

Red watched as the golden speckles floated before him, but then he just reached up to straighten out his clothes, smirking when he heard more muffled cries as the man was beaten. Red cracked his neck and said, "Thank you. We need this one to talk."

"Yes, I will get him to talk. You go on," Luffy growled down at the terrified man, though the man's face was already swollen, and then Luffy began hitting him again.

"Good," Red said with a smirk and another chuckle. He then just turned and calmly left the room, chuckling to the sounds of pain as the door closed behind him.

"Ah, there you are, Red. Are you okay?" Sanji asked from down the hall, and everyone else had also come back, possibly when they realized he was no longer following them.

"Yup, just had to use the bathroom. Sorry, let's go," he said and headed straight for them with a smile on his face.

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note: **Ha! HA HA! So, Red knew about Luffy the whole time. O.o Red, you little scoundrel! xD Sorry, I know, not a lot of Luffy, but you'll quickly get over it. Stay tuned for the next chapter. xD


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note:** All right, so here's what I warned about and the reason for the M rating change. This is what Kascade's Raining inspired. xD No worries though, it's pretty mild and there really isn't any description. It's basically just implied. xD Oh and you also get what you wanted. Enjoy.

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 16**

That evening after dinner and hanging out with the others, Nami headed back to her room first, while the others remained behind. She was feeling a bit tipsy, and she was feeling good. She smiled to herself in memory to the enjoyable evening and slipped into her room, but instantly froze. The balcony doors were opened, and the curtain was fluttering violently to the strong winds outside. Standing just before them with his back to her was a man with his hands behind his back. She did not have to see his face to know who he was.

"Luffy," she called to him softly, letting the door close on its own.

Slowly, he turned his head to her, and then the rest of his body followed as he released his hands. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw that he was wearing a loose, long sleeve black shirt with it open just at the chest and loose matching black pants. With the moonlight reflecting off it from behind, she had to assume it was silk. When he took steps towards her, she saw that he was also barefoot, and she felt her heart begin to pound in her chest.

Pausing before her, he reached up slowly and let the backs of his fingers run down one side of her face. She looked up at him, but the feel of his fingers along her skin caused her to close her eyes and shudder. She felt the tingles all along her side, which made bumps to form all over her skin. Opening her eyes again, she gazed up at him in a daze, and then she whispered, "I-um…"

However, before she could speak, his lips came down over hers. Her knees instantly went weak, but he was prepared this time, and already wrapped her tightly within his arms. The moment his strength enclosed her, she felt the safest she had ever felt before. She felt it inside, that he would always protect her; he would always keep her safe.

She moaned softly, completely giving herself to him and wrapped her arms around him as well. As she parted her lips in invitation, he immediately accepted, slipping his tongue within. She shuddered again, feeling the prickles along her skin intensify. The longer the kiss lasted, the more their passions kicked up, and the faster the pace of the kiss became. Soon, both were breathing heavily, and their holds on each other had tightened, pressing their bodies close together. She could feel the soft silk of his shirt against the skin of her arms. It felt so good.

When he finally pulled away, forcing her to let go of him, she felt instant disappointment. She looked up at him with a soft frown and whispered breathlessly, "Luffy?"

Lifting his arm, he gently pressed his fingers into the middle of her chest and gently urged her back. As she took a step back, he would take a step forward. It was almost like a dance as he urged her right towards the bed. Her breathing kicked up even more, knowing where it was going, but she did not stop it.

She continued to step back, until she bumped into the bed, and then she lifted herself up to move more over it. He came up over her, and once they were in the middle, he lay over her, pinning her down into the plush comforter.

Once again, his lips found hers, and she arched her body into his. Soon those lips of his began to wander, trailing down her chin and lower. She was not even aware when their clothing was removed, whether he did it or she helped, and it did not matter. All she was aware of; all she wanted to be aware of was when his bare flesh lay over hers.

Moaning deeply, she melded her body to his, feeling as the heat between them combined and made the temperature within the room feel as if it had risen. She felt his lips exploring, which caused more moans to slip from her lips. Every little touch he made with his lips or fingers caused her body to react in ways she had never experienced before. She felt as he ran the tips of his fingers down along her lips, chin, down the valley of her breasts and down the line of her stomach to her belly button.

Her body quivered and vibrated with feelings. Her lips released gasps and moans, and her heart fluttered within her chest. When they became as one, there was no pain. He had made sure not to hurt her. All she felt was the pleasure, and she knew he felt it too. All she could do was feel. She felt as their bodies became slick as they moved in perfect rhythm, and she felt his hot breath as he breathed deeply against her skin.

Soon the pace of their rhythm increased in speed, but neither ever lost sync with one another. The sounds they made together only intensified their passion, and their lips as well as touches became desperate. When it came, they came together, and she lifted her body as he arched back, wrapping her arms and legs tight around him, to again meld their bodies together.

Slowly, and after both had recovered, he gently lay her back down into the bed and came down over her. Detaching himself from her, he eased in beside her, and she turned to keep her body close to his. His arms instantly wrapped around her to pull her flush against him, and both relaxed, feeling content. She rested her head on his chest, listening and even feeling his pounding heart within.

After a while, she smiled and turned to bury her face within his chest. Tilting her head back, she shared that smile with him, and she watched as he smiled to her in return. Chuckling softly, she turned her body to lean over him and came up to kiss him, to which he eagerly reciprocated. She moved to lay over him and was content to remain that way as she kissed him slowly.

After a few moments of the slow kiss, he whispered to her lips, "Thank you, Nami."

"You're thanking me?" she whispered in return with a bright smile. "I should be thanking you. You've given me so much more-"

"No," Luffy replied instantly and gently shook his head, and then he whispered, "You've given me everything."

Slowly losing her smile, she appeared confused, but was given no time to question it as he leaned up to continue their kiss. Her confusion did not last long, and soon they were moving together again. She did not remember how many times they made love that night, but soon she did not care as they both lay tired and intertwined together. Before she fell asleep completely, she whispered, "Happy birthday, Luffy." Slowly, his lips curved into a smile, and he kissed her temple tenderly before falling asleep with her tight in his arms.

When she awoke later in the morning, she groaned, burrowing more into the covers and then reached out to the other side of the bed. When her hand only met with the sheets, she slowly opened her eyes. He was gone, and it seemed he had tucked her in tightly within the covers before he left. She knew he would leave, but she sighed anyway. Slipping across the bed, she curled up on the side he had been sleeping and groaned.

She could already feel an ache within her chest from being separated from him. How ridiculous was that? With another sigh, she pushed herself up and stretched. She felt a bit sore, though this made her smile. Slipping out of bed, she made her way into the bathroom to shower before heading out to meet with the others for breakfast.

As the hot water ran over her, and she felt more of the soreness, she just smiled even more brightly.

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note:** Yay! Finally, you got what you wanted, now piss off! D: Lawl, I'm kidding. xD Anyway, I made it as mild as possible. Hope you guys thought it was okay. xD Sorry it was short too. I wanted this chapter to be strictly for them. xD Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note:** Okay, so, feel special, because I plan to post 2 chapters today. Come on, start feeling special. That's it. Feels good, right? Lawl, I'm just messin'. :P Seriously though, I will post 2 chapters for you today. :) Enjoy this chapter for now!

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 17**

Seeing as she had woken late, everyone had already gone down, and so Nami made her way downstairs to the dining room with a smile stuck to her face. Despite the sourness, she felt wonderful. As she entered, she could hear the voices of the others and smiled even more brightly.

"Oh, there she is," Nojiko said with a quirked brow. "First to go to bed, but last to wake up this morning."

Nami's cheeks flushed just slightly, but her smile remained. "Sorry, I decided to sleep in today."

"How did you sleep?" Red asked and tilted his head to the side.

Looking over to him, she smiled softly, but then smiled even more brightly. "I slept great! How about you?"

He grinned in return and said, "I slept great too!"

She laughed softly to this and said, "That's good to know. I'm glad."

"You seem really cheery this morning," Nojiko said, looking at her suspiciously.

"It's because I slept great; I just said so. It's been a while since I let myself sleep in," Nami said with a chuckle as she took her seat beside her sister, but Nojiko leaned towards her and just stared. Nami cleared her throat as she fixed up a plate and said, "Nojiko, it's rude to stare."

"Uh huh," Nojiko said, continuing to stare, but then she frowned. "Uh uh, you're glowing, Nami. What the hell?"

Nami frowned now as she looked to her sister, though her cheeks flushed a bit, and then she said, "Nojiko, what is the matter with you?"

"What is the matter with me? What is the matter with _you_?" Nojiko asked, looking to her sister with incredulity.

"You do look exceptionally startling this morning, my dear," Sanji said and smiled. "Did you have a good dream, perhaps?"

"Ah, a good dream sounds nice," Usopp said and chuckled.

Nami laughed nervously as she looked to Usopp and then to Sanji, but then she gave a hard nod and said, "Yes, I suppose you could say that. It was a _very_ good dream."

Deciding to find this funny, Red just laughed, looking highly amused. "Eh? Why is that funny?" Usopp asked, looking confused to Red's amusement, and even Ace's, who had also begun to laugh.

"A dream?" Red asked, still laughing.

Ace quirked a brow, but he also looked amused and said, "Now, I could use a dream like that."

"So could I. Damn," Nojiko said and pouted. Nami's cheeks flushed hotter, but she decided to ignore them and eat instead.

Zoro yawned, looking to have fallen asleep at the table, but then he said, "I just had a very nice dream that I was sleeping in peace, but then I got rudely awakened. What the hell are you all so noisy for?"

"Go back to sleep," Nami muttered and shoved his head back onto the table. He did not complain, and instead curled his arms to rest his head on to go back to sleep.

Red also snickered to this, just highly amused with everything going on. However, Usopp also snickered to what Nami did. "So, I guess tonight is the night, huh?" Nojiko said, deciding to let her sister be.

"Yes, tonight is the masquerade ball," Sanji said and nodded slowly with a smile.

"I'm glad I don't have to attend. Balls make me nervous," Usopp said and chuckled nervously to show it.

"Eh? Nervous? Why? Balls are exciting! I know I'm really excited," Nojiko said and smiled brightly to Usopp, but then she looked over to Zoro. "Zoro, you're gonna dance with me, right?"

"Fuck that shit," Zoro muttered from within his arms, making Nojiko pout at him.

"Why not?" Nojiko muttered with her pout.

"You can count on me to dance with you," Ace said and gave her a lazy half smirk from across the table.

Placing her elbow over the table and resting her chin over the backs of her fingers, Nojiko gave him another sultry smile and asked, "You'll dance with me?"

"I'll dance with you," he repeated with a slow nod and a wider smirk.

"I'd like that," she said and chuckled deeply within her throat.

"Of for fuck's sake…" Zoro muttered, but then he sighed. These people were not letting him sleep, and he could definitely do without the flirting.

"Zoro, you need a woman," Nojiko said with a smirk as she reached around her sister to pat his head, causing him to grunt.

"Or more sleep," Red said and snickered, which made Nojiko flash him a smirk.

"I don't need a damn woman," Zoro muttered in reply and snorted.

"A man then," Ace said and smirked much wider.

"No, I don't need anyone," Zoro muttered, and kept his head within his arms.

"So, seriously, you're not interested at all?" Ace asked and chuckled.

"What for? Women are troublesome," Zoro muttered, but did not raise his head.

"And what about men?" Sanji asked and smirked at him.

"What're you trying to say, curly brow? Are you asking, because you're interested? Too bad, because I'm not," Zoro muttered within his arms and yawned. "I could do better." This caused everyone to laugh.

"Good one, Zoro," Nojiko said and chuckled.

"Yeah, I think I'm a much better choice," Ace said and smirked at Zoro.

Zoro finally lifted his head with his own smirk and said, "A _much_ better choice."

"Oi, oi, oi! Okay, it's not funny anymore!" Nojiko said and pouted deeply.

This made both men grin, though Ace gazed back at Nojiko with a gleam in his eyes, his grin turning into a smirk, and then his lids slowly drooped. This made her flush, but then she quirked a brow at him. Zoro just chuckled to Nojiko and went to rest his head again.

Sanji scoffed with a slight glare at Zoro. "Maybe it's just because you can't get anyone."

Pausing in resting his head, Zoro looked up at Sanji and glared. "I never tried to. I already said I don't need anyone."

"Everyone needs someone," Sanji said, resting his cheek over his fist and smirking lazily at him.

"I don't," Zoro said and glared.

"Are you sure? You're not lonely? You think you're all… What? Big and bad? The big bad man doesn't need anyone?" Sanji said and chuckled.

"Maybe you're the needy one," Zoro nearly growled and glared even more.

"Yet you follow these two beautiful women around like a lost little puppy. Do you have feelings for one of them, perhaps? You never spoke up, and now it seems you let them slip through your fingers," Sanji said and smirked even more.

"Don't get too cocky, asshole," Zoro said, nearly scowling back at him. "Are you really so sure?"

Sanji shook his head and said, "Whether or not Nami and I part ways after this, she still would not want someone with a lack of confidence."

"This has nothing to do with confidence. We grew up together, but nothing more other than friendship ever developed. I traveled with Nami to keep her safe, and to make sure Nojiko was rest assured of her safety," Zoro said, becoming angry.

"Oh yeah? As I recall, she was shot," Sanji said and smirked.

"I will kick your ass, curled brow," Zoro said, glaring more dangerously to the blonde man as he sat back within his chair, ready to stand.

"Yeah, come and bring it, asshole," Sanji seethed, though he kept his smirk.

"That's enough!" Nami said, slamming her hands down onto the table and looking upset.

Sanji instantly bowed his head and said, "I apologize, Nami."

"Zoro did try and protect me. I didn't let him. I… had my reasons-It doesn't matter!" she instantly said and huffed. "Look, I understand the two of you don't get along, but your bickering is becoming annoying. Knock it off, the both of you! Besides, you're making Usopp and Vivi nervous."

"I-I-I'm okay," Usopp said and cleared his throat, but he did, indeed, look nervous.

Vivi laughed quietly and nervously as she looked between Zoro and Sanji. "I-I'm fine too," she muttered and cleared her throat as well.

"Ah, I apologize, my princess. I did not mean to upset you," Sanji said and frowned to her softly.

"I-No, I-I'm not upset, just… I'm fine," she said and smiled to him nervously.

Zoro just scoffed, but Nami kicked him under the table. "Ow!" he exclaimed and frowned at her deeply. He huffed and muttered, "Sorry…"

When there was a soft chuckle at the door, everyone looked over to the entrance. Robin smiled to everyone kindly. "Sounds like fun in here," she said and chuckled again.

"Ah, Robin," Vivi called and blinked at the woman just standing there, "did you come just now for breakfast?"

"No, I was standing and listening for some time. It seems everyone gets along very well," Robin said and smiled a little more brightly.

"Uh," Nami said, just gaping at this strange woman.

Both Brooke and Franky chuckled from where they stood on either side of the entrance near the woman. They had learned to just watch the youths. It was entertaining, and it seemed Robin thought so as well.

"So much energy," Robin said and opened her eyes again to regard them all. "How old is everyone here?"

"Uh… is right…" Nojiko muttered, glancing to the others before looking back at the others.

"Age, Miss Nico?" Sanji asked and blinked at her.

"Yes," Robin replied and nodded, but never dropped her kind smile.

Brooke and Franky chuckled again with wide smiles in amusement as they exchanged looks. Now they all glanced to one another before looking back at her, but then Sanji answered first. "Twenty-seven," he said and frowned softly.

"Ah, I'm twenty-four," Nojiko said as she raised a hand and dropped it.

"Twenty-six," Ace said and chuckled, still amused.

"I'm… twenty-two," Nami said and cleared her throat.

"Ah, you know my age, Robin, but… twenty-two as well," Vivi said and flushed.

"I'm twenty-three," Usopp muttered and shifted his eyes to the side.

"Nineteen!" Red replied with a grin and just chuckled. He did not care that he was the runt.

Zoro frowned at this woman, but then he finally said, "Twenty-five, why?"

"Still so young," Robin said and chuckled softly as she stepped inside. "Brooke, Franky, could you remember being so young?"

"Of course-Well, vaguely…" Franky replied with a grin and chuckled deeply.

"Yohohoho! Not much," Brooke replied as he laughed.

"And how old are all of you?" Zoro asked and glared, feeling as if they were being condescending.

"Aah, forty-five," Brooke said and sighed as he tilted his head back.

"Thirty-six," Franky said and quirked a brow with a smile.

Robin gave another chuckle and said, "Thirty."

"Wait a minute, you're not even old," Zoro said and frowned more deeply.

Turning to look right at him, Robin smiled softly and said quietly, "Thank you."

Zoro's eye twitched, but then he harshly looked away from her. Smiling more to his reaction, she then slowly made her way towards him. "Were you perhaps feeling inferior? Did you suppose I was commenting about immaturity?"

"Ah, no, of course not, Miss Nico," Sanji said, but Robin replied immediately.

"Oh, but I was," she said and smiled to Sanji brightly, which made his jaw drop. Nami squirmed within her chair and frowned to this woman, and even Sanji frowned. Usopp covered a fist to his lips and cleared his throat. Nojiko quirked a brow and pursed her lips, while Ace just grinned. Red snickered, finding their discomfort amusing. He was most certainly unaffected.

"Oi," Zoro said and glared at her.

Robin's gaze once again rested on him as she smiled, and then she sat down beside him. "It sounds like fun. I wish to join," she said and smiled to him more softly.

Vivi chuckled nervously and said, "Of course you can, Robin."

Robin kept her smile on Zoro, who quirked his brow at her, but then he huffed and looked away from her. Women were definitely troublesome, especially this one.

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note: **Yup, I changed up some of their ages-get over it. :P Lawl, Robin trolling Zoro, because it's easy. xD Actually, she was trolling all of them. xD Lawl, Robin! K3 Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter, because the shit is about to hit the fan. Stay tuned for the next chapter! :D


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note:** All right, so here is the next chapter. I love this chapter. :3 I hope you guys do too! :D Enjoy! :3

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 18**

"I'm a little nervous," Nami said and took a deep breath, feeling her heart pounding as she sat, while the hairdresser fixed up her hair for the night's masquerade ball.

"What? Why? I'm excited," Nojiko said with a grin as she looked at herself in the mirror. "Don't be like poor Usopp," she said with a smile and had been smiling brightly since earlier that day.

Nami quirked a brow at her sister, but then she narrowed her eyes. "Now who's the one glowing?"

"I have nooo idea what you're talking about," Nojiko said and chuckled, though her cheeks gave her away when she flushed.

"Nojiko," Nami called with a frown, though really, she wanted to know what her sister was so happy about. Though, of course, Nojiko had been in her shoes that morning. "Speaking of which, you disappeared on us earlier today. Where did you go?"

"What?" Nojiko asked and quirked her brow at her again. "You wouldn't tell me this morning and tried to pass it off as some dream. Please, dreams don't make anyone that happy." Nami sighed and looked back at herself in the mirror, but said nothing. "Exactly!" Nojiko said and huffed.

"I'll tell you when we get home, okay?" Nami muttered and Nojiko smiled brightly.

"All right, then I'll tell you when we get home!" she said and giggled.

Nami smiled softly to her sister and also giggled. With both their faces flushed, they finished preparing for the evening. When both were ready and their masks were placed on their faces, they headed out to meet the gentlemen downstairs, who would already be waiting for them within the ballroom. As they made their way outside of the room, they could already hear the faint sound of the orchestra as well as the sounds of the many guests talking and laughing, which drifted up to the third floor.

"Sounds like they're already having a good time down there," Nojiko said and chuckled.

"So it seems," Nami said and smiled. Her heart had once again begun to pound. She was not sure why she felt so excited and nervous. Perhaps it was because it was the first masquerade ball she had ever attended. Perhaps it was something else.

Both were announced as they entered, but the man's voice barely carried over the music and talking. Nami stepped in wearing a ball gown of dark turquoise, accented with black trim, and the mask she wore only covered her eyes and nose, colored in the same as her dress, but accented with gold trim and glitter. Turquoise and black feathers adorned her mask on one side. Nojiko wore a pale blue gown trimmed with silver, and her mask matched the colors. However, her mask was speckled with silver glitter, which sparkled within the light and white feathers on one side.

Only a few of the guests turned to nod in greeting to them, but they were relatively ignored. Nami scanned the crowd, looking for the others and saw Sanji standing with Prince Ace as well as Zoro, but then she frowned. "Excuse me?" She gasped, feeling the voice as if it were so close, and then she quickly turned, pressing a hand to her chest, but then she began to laugh.

"You startled me," she said, but then she smiled softly.

"Hmm?" Nojiko quirked a brow at the masked man, but then she frowned. Who the hell was this guy? She did not recognize his voice, for starters, and his mask was completely different from everyone else's there. It covered his entire face, and all it was, was a mirror, which curved to fit around his face. It was faceless. He also wore a hooded cloak, which hid the rest of his head and hair from view. How the hell did he see out of this mask? Was it perhaps a one way mirror and he could actually see everything, as if he was not wearing a mask at all? And most importantly, _who the hell was this guy_?

There was a deep chuckle from behind the mask, and then he said, "Sorry." He then elegantly bowed before her with one arm folded before him as he held the other out. "Please, allow me a dance."

Nami smiled brightly with a chuckle and nodded slowly. "I would be honored to have my first dance with you," she said softly and curtsied to him.

"Nami?" Nojiko questioned with a frown. Who _was_ this guy? Nami seemed to know him. She then glanced around to find the others.

"I'll be fine, Nojiko," Nami said, but did not look at her. Instead, she took the arm he offered and walked with him down the steps into the ballroom.

"What the hell?" Nojiko whispered, looking confused. She looked again for the others and spotted them near the other side of the room. Hurrying down the stairs, she then headed straight for them. "Hey," she called as soon as she was close enough.

Zoro looked up and frowned at her. "What is it, Nojiko?"

"Who is that guy?" she asked and nodded to the man Nami was dancing with.

"Looks like someone out to steal Sanji's woman," Ace said with a smirk, but then he eyed Nojiko and smiled. "Nice dress," he muttered to her quietly.

She flashed him a smile and said, "Thanks," but then she quickly dropped it and said, "Wait, I don't have time to flirt. Seriously, who is that guy?" She nodded to the masked man again.

Sanji slowly frowned and unfolded his arms, especially to Ace's words. He then felt irritated, seeing as he had wanted to be the first to dance with Nami. Who _was_ this guy? "We don't know," he said and looked about. "Speaking of… Where's Red? He said he would be right down."

"Don't know. Maybe that's him," Zoro said with a smirk and nodded to the mirror masked man. This made Ace snicker.

Sanji frowned a little deeper and said, "Red doesn't know how to dance and always refuses."

"Yeah, and it didn't sound like that little brat. His voice was completely different," Nojiko said and fidgeted. "I wouldn't normally worry, but Nami seemed to know him, which is weird, since we can't see his face. She usually tells me everything, but she's been keeping secrets lately. I don't know; something feels weird."

"I think you're overreacting, Nojiko. It's nothing. Maybe she's just being polite," Zoro said and shrugged as he crossed his arms. "Besides, I like this guy, since he took away the curled brow's first dance with her," he said and smirked.

"I'm going to kick your ass," Sanji muttered and looked to be glowering.

"You go ahead and try it," Zoro said and chuckled, but kept his smirk.

"Thank you for dancing with me," Nami whispered and smiled shyly, but then she looked up at him.

Chuckling behind his mask, he nodded to her slowly in a bow and said, "I really wanted to." She smiled more brightly and chuckled. She felt her skin tingle, and really, all she wanted to do was hug him. However, her dreamy daze was shattered, when he said, "I'm sorry for what's about to happen."

"What?" she whispered, looking very confused.

However, just then, the ballroom doors were suddenly thrown open, causing some women to cry out from being startled. In stepped a large man with other people wearing hoods to hide their faces.

Nami gasped and turned towards the entrance, as did everyone else in the ballroom. Cobra slowly stood from where he sat with a frown, but then it turned more concerned. "S-Sovereign King Garp, what… what are you doing here?"

Garp ignored Cobra and instead scanned the room, until his eyes fell on the mirrored mask. "There you are, you stupid boy!" Garp nearly yelled into the room. He then made his way down the stairs swiftly and straight to him. He grabbed him by the front of his cloak and pulled him close to him. "Have you any idea the trouble you've caused!?"

The entire room gasped in shock and watched with every ounce of their attention. They were not about to miss this. Nami frowned deeply, and concern was etched all over her face, possibly even fear.

"Wait, wait, wait!" the masked man said and quickly removed his mask as well as his hood. "I'm not who you think I am!"

"Red!" Sanji whispered, and his eyes widened.

"What the…?" Nojiko whispered, her eyes wide, and then she frowned deeply. That was not Red's voice she heard speaking earlier.

Taking a step back, but keeping a hold of the boy's cloak, Garp back handed Red across the face so hard, he flew back and rolled over a few times. The mask he held flew some feet and shattered across the ground.

"Red!" Sanji cried and instantly moved forward. "Wait, please, your majesty! Don't hurt him! He's just a boy!"

Garp instantly turned to Sanji, and just as Sanji reached him, he also hit him away, sending Sanji flying into other people. "Sanji!" Vivi cried and instantly stood. She then looked to her father and whispered, "Father, please do something."

Cobra, already beginning to sweat, shook his head and whispered, "I can't Vivi. This man is our sovereign king."

Garp then turned to Red, who was slowly pushing himself up from the hard hit. He then looked up at Garp and then slowly stood as he wiped away the blood. "I'm not… who you think-"

"Don't try and bullshit me, boy!" Garp yelled and instantly went for him, but Red did not budge. Garp stopped in front of him and said, "Enough, boy! You think some faceless mask is going to hide you from me! I've had enough of your shit, boy!"

"I'm not wearing a mask any longer-"

"I said don't bullshit me, boy!" Garp yelled at the top of his lungs and coming even closer to the young man. The volume of his voice caused more women to whimper with fear.

Red stared up at Garp intently, and then his eyes narrowed as he breathed deeply, but then he took a much deeper breath to calm himself down. Very slowly, he lifted his arm from within his cloak, revealing the very same mask, which shattered not but a minute before. Those around where the mask had shattered looked down, only the shards had vanished. Everyone within the room gasped, some crying out, and then the whispering started. Everyone wanted answers, which no one had. What exactly was it that they were witnessing? Red brought the mask up to his face to cover it and let go. Despite not being attached, the mask remained over his face. He then slowly pulled the hood on over his red hair.

"Red?" Sanji called as he wiped the blood from his lip and chin, but remained sitting on the ground.

"You really are a stubborn old man," Red said from behind the mask, but his voice had changed once again. Reaching up, he again, slowly removed the mask, but the face behind it was _not_ Red's, and his hazel eyes were gone, replaced with black ones. He then threw off the hood to reveal his flaming red hair was now black. Sanji sucked in his breath, as did nearly the entire room. There were even some cries in shock, and some women even fainted. "You couldn't just leave me alone, could you, old man?" he said and glared back at Garp.

"There you are… Luffy."

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note:** Dun DUN _**DUN**_! I know, some of you already guessed it, right? :P So, how many times can the word mask be used throughout this fic? xD And finally! Faceless Mask is said! xD The title makes sense! Okay, so, I was writing the beginning of this late at night, and where Red says, "Please, allow me a dance," I, for some reason, typed instead, "Please, allow me a face." I thought it was so strange, and it made me laugh. I told Raven the Ravenous about it, and he said, "Maybe Red is trying to tell you something!" I was like, "Maybe he is!" xD So creepy! I just thought it strange how I typed face, instead of dance. It's not a typo, obviously. Just for some reason, my mind decided to type face, and the other strange thing, is that it totally makes sense. xD I think I should also mention, I got the idea to give Luffy the ability to change his appearance from Game of Thrones. I was telling this to Raven, and then I looked them up for him. Low and behold, those men from Game of Thrones are actually called Faceless Men! xD I did not know this before choosing the name of my fic! xD What a coincidence! Anyways, the ending is soon. Stay tuned for the next chapter. :)


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note:** All right, here it is! Chapter 19! :D Enjoy you guys. :3

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 19**

The moment the name Luffy came forth from Garp's lips, there were cries of astonishment within the room, and a few more women fainted. The young man they were all looking at was the legendary prince himself, who had gone missing seven years ago. However, what was more shocking was that he seemed to have some sort of power. The entire room was in shock, except for Garp, those who came with him and only two others.

Both Cobra and Vivi both looked to be in shock as well, and finally, Vivi released her breath. All this time, the legendary prince had been in their home. "Father," she whispered, though there was a quiver in her voice, and then she reached out to take his clammy hand within hers.

"Holy shit," Nojiko whispered, her voice quivering as well, and she was shaking. However, she glanced to her sister, but her sister was looking at Garp, instead of at Luffy. She still appeared afraid of Garp, but she did not look shocked at all. It looked as if she knew all along. What was going on? "I don't understand."

Ace chuckled softly with a lazy smirk and said, "No, you wouldn't." Nojiko looked up at him and her eyes managed to go wider. "You're not surprised," she said more than asked.

"No," he replied, but then he looked down at her and just smiled.

"You stupid boy. Red hair, I should have known! It was that damned red haired Shanks, who told you everything, wasn't it!? Useless advisor of mine! And now look at what you've done. Look at all of these witnesses! You've let them see!" Garp exclaimed, scowling down at Luffy.

"You told me to, you idiot!" Luffy exclaimed and gaped at the old man, completely appalled. There were more gasps to the way Luffy was speaking to his grandfather, though really they wanted to know who these men really were.

"Yeah, I have to agree with Luffy, Gramps," Ace said as he stepped up and towards them.

"Shut up, boy! No one asked you!" Garp said as he frowned at Ace.

Ace just chuckled and looked over at Luffy. "Long time no see, little brother."

Looking over to him, Luffy smiled softly to him, but only one side of his lips rose up. "It has been a while. I thought for sure you would have blown my cover."

"Blown your cover? Now, where was the fun in that?" Ace said and smirked, but then grunted, when Garp smacked him in the back of the head, which made more people gasp. Ace just chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"And why didn't you tell me he was here!?" Garp yelled at him with a glare.

"Where would have been the fun in that too? Besides, it seems you found him anyway. Let me guess, you had spies, right?" Ace said and smirked to Garp, though he still rubbed the back of his head.

Growling low in his throat, Garp kept his glare on the pup, but then he said, "Of _course_ I had spies!" He then turned to the cloaked figures and nodded his head curtly.

Every one of the hooded people removed their hoods, and there were a few more gasps. Even Luffy frowned, as his jaw dropped slightly, when he saw a few he actually recognized. "Tony," he whispered and looked to the others, "Robin, Franky, Brooke… Usopp…"

"What?" Vivi whispered and quickly looked to her father, but he looked just as stunned. His trusted advisor was one of the sovereign king's spies? His guards and even his gardener?

Tony gazed down at Luffy with a slight frown, but unlike the others, he kept his gaze on Luffy. "I'm sorry, Luffy. I knew it had to be you. I had to tell the king."

"Sorry, Luffy," Usopp muttered as he lowered his head.

"We all had to tell him," Franky said quietly, but then he sighed as he looked down.

Robin and Brooke merely lowered their heads to avoid eye contact. Clamping his mouth closed, Luffy lowered his eyes, but then he nodded his head curtly. He understood their position.

"Of course you did," Garp said as he turned to look at Luffy, "but not all my spies were as cooperative. There was one in particular I was really relying on. Each of these humans is rare, with a gift to sense our power. I used them like hounds to sniff you out. However, they could only ever feel if someone like us was near, not who it was or where exactly. They were merely locators, but you knew this already. However, there was one, an even rarer human, who is very sensitive to our power and can sense the person specifically. If anyone could find you, I knew it would be her. I was expecting her to find you for me. She was going to lead me right to you. She… was my navigator."

Nami swallowed hard and slowly moved more behind Luffy. Luffy turned his head slightly to the side towards her, but looked up again at Garp. "That's right. She betrayed you, because she would not betray me. She's _my _navigator now."

"What? Nami?" Nojiko whispered in even more shock. Her sister knew this whole time? She had the power to sense people like these? And from the looks of it, Ace was even one of them. Suddenly, she was thrown into confusion, but even so, she was beginning to understand some things. She always thought it weird how Nami always smiled at Red, so differently. She had suddenly become so happy, and there were Red's blunt compliments, and she remembered when he gave Nami that flower. The entire time, it seemed he had been courting her right under their noses. Luffy had known she knew and trusted her to keep his secret.

Nojiko was not the only one, who seemed to realize. Zoro frowned deeply, though he still looked surprised. He recalled Nami telling him several times that she could _feel_, that Red was Luffy. She had said she had _known_ it was him; felt it and with certainty. He had thought it a joke, but she had been serious. If she knew it was him, why had she not turned him in for the money? However, the answer came as soon as he asked it within his own mind. He rolled his eyes shut and shook his head. She was in love with him.

Garp growled out again, looking like an angry bear, and then he shifted his eyes to Nami. "Have you any idea what it means to betray your king, girl?"

"Don't!" Luffy barked as he swiftly moved in front of her to block her off and scowled at his grandfather. "Don't you dare, old man," he growled, looking very serious and as if he was ready to fight.

Sanji had sucked in his breath and jolted forward, but stopped and let himself fall back to the floor. He was still in shock, though he understood Nami was in danger. However, he also understood that she was now under the prince's protection, not his. It seemed Nami had always been the prince's. He now understood why she agreed to come. She had wanted to be near him. She had wanted to be near Red-No, not Red. Red never existed. Clamping his teeth down hard, he lowered his head and felt so confused. Someone he cared about dearly, like family, did not even exist.

"Hey, are you okay?" Zoro asked quietly as he bent down near him and held a hand out to him.

"No," Sanji replied honestly, but allowed Zoro to help him up.

"Yeah, I wouldn't be either," Zoro muttered with a frown as he pulled him up.

"Don't I dare?" Garp asked so quietly, but his words were heard over the still silence. "Who do you think you are, boy?" Garp exclaimed, and then he backhanded Luffy hard again, only this time, he did not go flying. His head snapped to the side, but then he slowly looked up at his grandfather again, ignoring the trickle of blood down his chin.

"I won't allow you to harm her," Luffy nearly whispered as he gave his grandfather a hard gaze.

"You just continue to defy me, boy! You are heir to the sovereign throne, and yet you refuse to obey! You left my house seven years ago, and then you gave all our information… all of our _secrets_ to _this_ man!" he pointed to Sanji, who lifted his chin and clamped his jaw. "Have you any idea what you've done!?"

"I know exactly what I've done," Luffy said and glared back at his grandfather.

"Everything was going as planned. Things were being fixed-"

"Too slowly!" Luffy yelled and took a step towards his grandfather. "You turned coward!"

"Watch yourself, boy," Garp growled as he scowled, and it seemed to grow colder within the room the angrier he became. "We had to be careful! Careful is smart!"

"But it would have taken years-decades for your… _careful plans_ to take into effect!" Luffy exclaimed, taking another step towards his grandfather. "Meanwhile, our people were suffering! You care more about your own safety, than those of your people-Mmph!" Garp decked Luffy across the face, and this time, he did twirl to the side and hit the ground.

Nami gasped, feeling tears sting her eyes as they formed, and then she moved quickly to glare up at Garp. "He saved us. He didn't wait years, even if it did put him in danger. He was willing to do it for us. He _saved_ us!" she exclaimed as the tears did fall. She looked to Zoro, and then she looked to her sister. "He saved us," she whispered, but then she turned and held her hand out to Luffy, who took it. She pulled him up and gazed into his dark eyes. She then wiped away his blood herself, using her glove. "So many of us were suffering, because of kings, who did not care for their people. We were starving, because they robbed us, so they could have fine clothes, jewelry, and so much food to eat most of it went to waste. There were days we couldn't afford food or water, and we prayed for someone to help us. That's exactly what he did. You saved us, Luffy."

"Nami," Nojiko called softly, "you knew this whole time?"

Nami nodded slowly, but kept her eyes on Luffy's and whispered, "Of course I did. The moment I first saw him was the moment I knew he was the prince, and the moment I knew he was the prince… was the moment I knew he was the one who actually saved us."

"And when exactly was that, girl?" Garp asked, keeping his glare on her. He was still annoyed she never told him.

Nami huffed and finally turned her eyes to look at Garp. "When I came to you to plead to allow me to find the prince, and then to find you had that same power I kept feeling since leaving home, I knew I could find him easily. After you realized I could as well and hired me, I traveled the world with Zoro as my guardian. The more people like you I met, the more I also realized I could distinguish between powers, which I told you. You were ecstatic-I knew you were. So was I. I also then learned that each person had a certain signature, which I told you about, and you were even more ecstatic, but even still, I couldn't find him. I happened to be in a city, where Sanji would be speaking about three months after meeting with you. I was so excited. I used your name to get me and Zoro in. I wanted to see our savior. Of course, wherever Sanji went, Red was there as well. I felt him the moment I entered the building. He's pretty good at containing it, you see. His signature was limited to just within the building. I felt my heart nearly stop. I had found the prince everyone was searching for. I rushed in his direction, only to find I could not get to him. So I just attended the speech, and there he was… standing beside Sanji. He looked nothing like he was supposed to, but I knew it was him. I also realized and understood, in that moment, he was the man behind it all. Sanji was merely… his mask. Isn't that what you said, Luffy?"

"Yes," Luffy nodded slowly as he finally turned to look at Sanji, who was looking back at him. "I'm sorry, Sanji… for deceiving you and for not trusting you with the truth."

Lowering his eyes, Sanji shook his head and said, "I wouldn't have either. You trusted me enough to do what had to be done."

Luffy smiled and nodded. "Yes, and you did the job perfectly, and I'll always be grateful for that." Looking up to him again, Sanji huffed, but smiled in return with a nod.

"I never got to ask though," Nami said and turned to look up at Luffy. "Since when have you known I knew?"

Luffy smiled down at her and said, "The same moment you realized it was me. I'm always watching. I saw the look on your face. I knew you could feel me, and from how pale you had gone, I knew you knew it was me. I wasn't sure what to do. I waited for you to make a move; I watched you, and yet you never told my grandfather. Instead, you followed me wherever I went." This made her blush and look down, but he cupped her chin to make her look up at him. "You protected me, Nami," he whispered down to her. "I heard you-always heard you, when you would cry out for me; every time I was in danger, you were there, pleading for me. That night an assassin snuck in, and you screamed loudly to wake us and warn us. I heard your plea for the assassin not to kill us. Even over the gunfire not too long ago, I heard you plead with them not to kill me, and the day you came running in at the hospital and jumped on that man's back…" he whispered and swallowed down as he gazed into her eyes, but then he smiled and whispered, "You were amazing. You saved us so many times." Bringing his face close to hers, he whispered even more quietly, "When you began to have feelings for me, was probably about the same time I began to have feelings for you, Nami, but seeing your bravery…" he smiled even wider, "made me fall even more in love with you."

Nami's cheeks flushed brightly, but her eyes once again filled with tears, and then she just nodded as if in understanding. The motion caused her tears to fall, and so he gently wiped them away. "I love you, Luffy," she whispered up to him, though she felt breathless again. He always did that to her.

Luffy smiled to her and nodded. "And I love you too, Nami," he whispered in return as he pressed his forehead to hers, but when he heard his grandfather's growl in annoyance, he looked up at him. He did not speak for some time, and Garp only glared at him, looking very displeased by what he was seeing, but then Luffy finally spoke. "You see firsthand how badly they needed to be saved. They could not wait decades, and so I refused to wait. We had the means to save them, and yet you refused, because it was too dangerous. I refused to bend to fear. What is our safety, if we put it before our people? You should have left it alone, old man."

"And let you get yourself killed? Are you stupid, boy!? You're survival is important! You are the heir to the sovereign throne!" Garp exclaimed, looking ready to explode.

"I don't give a shit about some damned throne! How could I call myself king, if I didn't protect my people!" Luffy yelled back, looking about ready to do the same. "You've ruined so much already. My mask kept me safe, and right now, it still will. He's coming, old man. Be ready," he said, running a hand up his face and over his head. As he did, his face changed back to Red's, and his black hair burned bright red once again. It was as if seeing it for the first time, and the many people witnessing could only gasp in their shock. "It'll be all right, Nami," he whispered to her, and she looked just as confused as Garp as well as everyone else in the room.

"What?" Garp growled in his confusion.

"Well… well… well…"

Everyone's attention was pulled away and back towards the entrance. Tony, Robin, Franky, Brooke, Usopp and the others with hoods quickly moved down the steps and turned to look up to who was there.

"Doflamingo, what are you doing here?" Garp asked in a low voice as he narrowed his eyes at him, but then shifted his eyes towards Luffy. Luffy shifted his now hazel eyes to Garp and nodded vaguely.

"Here to kill the blonde bitch responsible for ruining my business as well as that orange haired bitch right there for ruining my chances at killing him, but who else am I to find, the master and king himself. Garp, it's been a while. Looks like I'll be getting even more little birdies than I thought."

The moment Doflamingo mentioned Nami, Red instantly pulled her behind him, making her gasp. "You're making a horrible mistake, asshole. What makes you think you'll succeed?"

"And who the hell are you, runt? Ah, wait, I remember. You're the blonde's little bitch, aren't you? Those are big words for such a small birdie. If you wish to be a part of that number, I can make it so," Doflamingo said and smirked.

"You won't be killing anyone."

More people gasped, and the many women who fainted before, fainted a second time the moment they looked up to see who it was. Standing just within one of the three stories high open windows was Luffy, glaring down at Doflamingo. However, Red was still standing before Nami. Were there two of him? Luffy leaned forward, letting himself fall. The many people below the window quickly moved out of his way with cries of surprise. Luffy spread out his arms and flipped to land gracefully on his feet just before he hit the ground.

"What the fuck is this shit?" Doflamingo asked, looking confused, especially to everyone's reactions to seeing this man, but then he looked to him again. "Wait a fucking minute. Don't tell me!" he said and began to laugh. "Is it you, little princey of Sereniata? Now, it's definitely been a while!"

Luffy did not bother to answer his question as he walked up towards him. "You're a traitor to your sovereign king, Doflamingo, and you're a traitor to your people. You will never rule again."

Throwing back his head, Doflamingo burst out laughing and said, "And who the hell are you to make such a claim, little prince? You are no king!"

Luffy chuckled deeply and said, "You seem to think I need to be a king in order to beat the shit out of you and take away your crown. That's cute."

"So, are we doing this?" Ace asked and stepped up to stand beside him.

"Of course we are," Luffy replied with a bigger smirk.

Ace chuckled deeply with a smirk as well and said, "I'm getting excited. It's been a while since I went all out."

"Just be mindful of those around you," Luffy said, making Ace scoff.

"Who do you think you're talking to, little brother?" Ace said and smirked to Luffy. "They'll be safe, because we'll protect them."

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note:** Oh, I know. You hate me for cutting it off right there. :3 No worries, it'll continue next chapter, LAWL! Surprise! Nami is sensitive to the force! LAWL! No, I'm kidding, but she is very sensitive to their power. xD So, she knew about Luffy the whole time, and Luffy knew about Nami that whole time. xD Some of yous were talking about how it was kind of soon, only it wasn't. xD Made me giggle. But now you have to wait to see what happens next. :3 And you see, here you guys were complaining there wasn't enough Luffy, only he was there the whole time. :3 Stay tuned for the next chapter. ;)


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note:** Here, chapter 20, because I felt like it, and because I got a lot more feedback and reviews from the latest chapter. That makes me really happy. :3 So, thanks you guys! I'm so glad you're enjoying it so far! Anyways, I won't keep you! Enjoy! :3

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 20**

Doflamingo threw back his head and said, "Are you both going to fight, little princes?"

"That's right," Luffy said and just stared back at Doflamingo intently.

This only seemed to make the blonde king laugh harder. "No, I don't think so," he said and made a motion with his hand. Many armed men rushed inside and pointed their guns at all of the guests, causing them to scream.

"Father!" Vivi cried in a whisper and held his hand tighter. What were they going to do?

"You won't do a thing to stop me, if you don't want all of these people to be slaughtered," Doflamingo said and smirked.

"That's pretty damn low, if you ask me," Ace said and quirked a brow.

"Well, no one did," Doflamingo said and just laughed at him.

"This is just one big joke for you, isn't it? You're one big fucking joker…" Luffy replied in a low voice and slowly as his jaw flexed.

"Perhaps it is, and perhaps I am. I'm getting what I came for. You, bring me the blonde, the orange haired woman and Garp," he said and motioned to one of his men.

The man went down the stairs, aiming his gun at them and said, "Let's go, move it."

"No, I'm coming too," Red said, pulling Nami to him and holding her close.

"If you wish to die with your woman, I'll grant it," Doflamingo said and nodded to his man.

"Let's go, all of you!" the man said and motioned for them to walk.

"No, Nami!" Nojiko whispered and moved forward, but Zoro stopped her.

"Don't… Let them handle this," Zoro whispered to her and held her close.

"As for you, little prince," Doflamingo said and smirked widely. He then suddenly raised his arm, and the sound of the gunshot echoed throughout the ballroom, causing everyone inside to scream.

Luffy flew back and hit the ground hard. Already, blood was beginning to seep out of him. Nami gasped, but Red held her tightly. "It's okay," he whispered to her and gently kissed her neck while no one was looking.

Ace clamped his teeth down, but he remained standing where he was, but did not look to where Luffy was lying. When they were finally gone, he did turn to look at Luffy's body, and then he smirked when golden specks of light began floating away from the body. Soon, his body just floated away with the golden dust. "What is going on?" Cobra asked, staring at where the body had been.

"No need to worry. He's fine," Ace said and shrugged. "Now, if you'll excuse me… He's going to need my help," he said, and as he spoke, his body began to turn into flames, which drifted up towards the window. "You might want to get some men together and head out to follow them." Soon, he too was gone.

"I'm coming," Zoro said as he approached King Cobra.

"I'm going as well," Usopp said as he also stepped up and pulled out a rifle hidden within his cloak. "I'm not just a gardener."

"I'm coming as well! There will be injuries!" Tony said and quickly ran up beside Zoro.

"I-" Cobra said, looking greatly shaken from all he had witnessed.

"We're going as well, King Cobra. We apologize for the deception," Franky said and bowed to him as did Brooke. "We must help them in any way possible."

"Y-Yes, yes we need to help. I understand your deception. He is our sovereign king, after all. Igaram!" Cobra called and looked to the side.

"I'll handle everything, your majesty," Igaram said and bowed to his king. "Let's go, men!"

Zoro quickly moved to Nojiko, who looked in deep shock. Not only was her sister taken, but Ace just floated away in flames. What the hell was going on? "Listen to me, Nojiko. We're going to get her back. Just wait here, where it's safe, you hear me?" he said and gave her a shake.

"Y-Yes," she replied and nodded.

"We'll do our best to keep her safe, okay?" he said, just making sure.

"I-I know. Please hurry!" Nojiko said and nodded to him, but quickly hugged him before he turned to leave.

Over the roof of the palace, two figures ran quickly before leaping onto one of the battlements, and then leaping off again to the gates. The shadowy figures then leapt off onto another roof of a house and into the city. They ran swiftly and quickly, keeping up with the limousine Doflamingo rode in, as well as the many large trucks holding his small army. They leapt from roof to roof without making a sound, behind them golden specks and flames followed.

Doflamingo laughed with joy to his victory, and then he looked to his hostages. "Don't worry. It'll all be over soon. Ah, wait, no it won't! I'm going to torture all of you before giving you the mercy of death!"

Nami turned and buried her face within Red's. "It's going to be okay. You trust me, don't you, Nami?" he whispered to her ear.

"Yes, I do," she whispered and wrapped her arms around him to hug him, "but I'm still scared."

"I know," he whispered and rolled his eyes up to the window to gaze out towards the two figures following. He then shifted his eyes to Garp, who nodded to him vaguely and slowly. Red slowly smirked, and then he looked over to Doflamingo as he began to chuckle.

"What's so funny, runt?" Doflamingo asked him with his own smirk.

"You shouldn't have brought the old man… and you definitely shouldn't have brought me," Red said, and then he suddenly lunged forward in a flurry of golden speckles of light. He decked Doflamingo hard in the face.

Sanji elbowed one of Doflamingo's men in the face and wrenched away his gun, and Garp growled as he attacked two of the other men. Nami cried out as she fell to the floor of the limo when it swerved. Both men within the driver's and passenger's seat began yelling over the noise, nearly losing control of the car. When the driver looked ahead again, he instantly hit the brakes when he saw a man standing in the road.

Luffy raised his arm and rammed his fist into the hood of the car, denting it nearly all the way through. As it was smashed into the ground, he slowed it down considerably, but pressed his other hand into it as he slid across the ground to stop it completely. The driver could only gape in disbelief. Did this man really do what he just did? Any other man would have been killed, and he was pretty sure his king killed this man back at the palace. How was he here and so quickly?

As the trucks followed, Ace rammed into one of them, and it was as if another truck had hit it. It went rolling onto the other side of the street. He then turned and rammed his shoulder into the next truck, which came barreling at him.

"What the hell is going on?" Doflamingo exclaimed as he clutched his bruised cheek and picked himself up after the sudden and jarring stop, but seeing Nami trying to move away, he instantly grabbed for her.

Red righted himself from the violent stop as everyone else was, but seeing Doflamingo looking towards Nami, he quickly moved for her, but despite his speed, Doflamingo was closer. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her to him.

"No!" Nami cried as she attempted to wrench herself away from him and held her arms out to Red. However, when a blade was placed at her throat, she gasped and cried out.

"Don't move!" Doflamingo yelled as he glared Red, who instantly froze. "You, blonde bitch, open the damn door!"

Sanji clamped his teeth down hard, but then shifted his eyes over to Red. Red nodded his head to him, and Sanji nodded in return. Reaching out, he opened the door for him, and Doflamingo climbed out, pulling Nami with him. She cried out and called for Luffy with tears in her eyes.

Other vehicles carrying Cobra's men as well as Garp's and Zoro pulled up, and everyone filed out. They headed for the trucks as the men spilled out, and the fighting broke out. Zoro removed rods, which he flicked forward to extend them. He then ran forward, dodging the gunfire as best he could, and cracked the rods hard over the gunmen.

From a distance, a shot was fired, and one of Doflamingo's men went down. Usopp cocked his rifle and went for the next man from where he was positioned on a rooftop. He gave a slow smirk and fired, watching as the man dropped through his scope. He chuckled, reloaded, cocked and looked for his next victim.

Looking to the side, Doflamingo saw his men could not help him, and so his eyes once again focused on the five before him. "How the hell are you still alive, little prince, and how did you get here so quickly? What the hell kind of trickery is this, and who the hell is that?" He nodded to Red, who slowly exited the vehicle with Garp and Sanji.

"I'm not anyone you need to worry about," Red said, and then he began to turn to golden dust.

The dust then floated right to Luffy and disappeared inside of him. Luffy closed his eyes for a moment, but then he opened them to glare back at Doflamingo. "It's me, you need to worry about," he said and took a step forward.

"What the hell is this!? What the hell is going on!?" Doflamingo demanded as he looked between all of them. Who the hell were these men?

"You don't need to worry about who we are, either. Now, let her go, and I promise to be lenient."

"Let her go?" Doflamingo said and began to laugh. "You promise to be _lenient_!?" he exclaimed as he laughed loudly.

"Luffy," Nami called to him in a whisper as the tears fell from her eyes and she slowly held out an arm to him, "please." She was terrified, and the metal from the blade was so cold.

Looking into Nami's eyes, Luffy frowned softly, his own heart pounding with fear and uncertainty, and then he whispered, "It's okay, Nami."

"Okay? It's okay? No, I don't think it's okay, because I don't want to let her go. You love her, little princey? I can see it on your face! That's adorable, and it seems she loves you too! Well, that only means one thing. I think I want you to suffer!" Doflamingo yelled, almost maniacally as he smirked nastily, and then he slit Nami's throat.

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note:** Yeeaaaah… so sorry… I know. I'm evil for ending it there. I get that a lot. Stay tuned for the next chapter.


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Note: **All right, so I got another song for you guys. This chapter was inspired by Soul of a Man by Steven Stern. I know, I have weird tastes. xD Have a listen, if ya like. :) Another good and sad song, which goes with this, and is actually a song I'm using for the book series I'm writing with Araucaria is Kaskade's Room For Happiness, but the Ice remix. :) It's so sad, but so beautiful. Have a listen. Anyways, I won't keep you anymore! Enjoy! :D

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 21**

"No!" Luffy cried as he jolted forward, but froze as he watched in horror as Nami attempted to gasp for air, which would never come. Blood spilled from her lips, and then she collapsed to the ground. He felt an unbearable ache rip at his heart, causing his eyes to blur.

"Nami!" Sanji exclaimed, looking just as shocked at what just happened. He then dropped to his knees. Garp rolled his eyes closed, but said nothing.

"No!" Tony also cried, having seen the whole thing. He ripped off his cloak as he ran forward and dropped to his knees beside Nami. He quickly brought the cloak to her throat, but he knew it was too late. She was dying and quickly.

"There we are," Doflamingo said and instantly grabbed Tony, placing the blade at his throat now.

Tony grunted as he looked up at Luffy with a look of sympathy. Luffy looked in deep shock, and his eyes remained on Nami, who he knew had just passed, but her brown eyes remained open, both gazing back at him lifelessly. Tony saw as the young man took deeper breaths, and then his tears finally fell. "Luffy," Ace called to him, his voice stern, "Luffy, are you still with me?"

Luffy's eyes shifted from side to side; as if he was still trying to let it all digest. "Nami," he whispered, but then jumped, when Ace called for him again, and he finally looked over to him.

"Luffy! Are you with me!?" Ace exclaimed and stepped towards him.

Staring at him for some time, Luffy then looked over towards Doflamingo, noting that he now held Tony captive. The young doctor looked nervous, but not scared. "Luffy," Tony called to him, but sucked in his breath when the blade was pressed more into his neck, which drew a bit of blood.

"I will slit this little punk's throat as well, princey! I suggest you back off! Give me, who I want! Give me Sanji!" Doflamingo yelled at him with his smirk.

"No," Luffy replied flatly as his gaze turned cold as he glared back at Doflamingo.

"Do you understand, that I will slit this runt's throat!?" Doflamingo yelled, his smirk dropping to be replaced with a scowl.

"No," Luffy said, and then he moved forward quickly in a blur of golden specks of light.

He grabbed Doflamingo's throat and lifted him up into the air. The sudden motion caused him to dig the blade a little more into Tony's throat, causing the young doctor to cry out. Tony dropped to the ground, but instantly brought up the other end of his cloak to stop the bleeding. Doflamingo gasped to the quick motion, the blade falling out of his hand, and gape down at Luffy. How had he moved so quickly? Tony grunted as he quickly looked over to Nami, but then scrambled over to her to pull her away from the conflict.

"Tony!" Sanji called and quickly ran to help him.

Taking a few more steps away, Luffy then slammed Doflamingo down over the ground onto his upper back and knocked the air right out of him. Now that Luffy had their king, Doflamingo's men, who were not occupied by the others, came flooding towards them. Ace surged for them with a speed they were not expecting and so came to a stop. Ace touched each man, and as he did an invisible fire, only they could see, began to spread over them. They screamed with pain and dropped to the floor to put it out, only the fire was inextinguishable. Ace slid to a stop and slowly turned to watch as they writhed in pain. A slow smirk spread as the small flames flickered within his dark eyes.

Seeing more coming, Sanji jumped to his feet, now that Tony and Nami were a good distance away, shot forward and kicked the first man who came at him. He would help out as much as possible to give Luffy the opportunity to stop this mad king. Garp grunted as he also looked to the men rushing at them. Taking steps forward, he pulled his arm up, which turned to stone, and then he slammed it into the ground. The ground cracked, and those cracks split the ground right under the men, swallowing them right up.

"You little fucker!" Doflamingo growled as he attempted to get the air he lost back. He then decked Luffy to try and get him off, but the hit barely did any damage. "Who the fuck are you!?"

Luffy smashed his fist into Doflamingo's face a few hard and fast times, putting Doflamingo in a daze. "I'm Luffy D. Moncaí, prince of Sereniata, son of Dragon D. Moncaí and grandson to Garp D. Moncaí! But none of that is going to matter once I'm done with you!" Luffy whispered down to him harshly, but then he grabbed Doflamingo's face roughly. "You won't even remember who you are, when I'm done with you," he whispered down to him as he lowered his face towards his.

Beginning to breathe heavily, Doflamingo stared up at him with terror, though he could barely see out of one of his swollen eyes, but soon, he was screaming in unimaginable pain. The haunting screaming seemed to bring everything to a halt, and all eyes turned to the prince and king. The screams filled Doflamingo's men with such terror, that they were frozen to their spots. They could not move and it as almost as if what Luffy did to their king, affected them as well.

After several minutes, Luffy stood up, staring down into the blank stare of Doflamingo's, and then he looked towards the others, who were just gaping at him, but he shifted his eyes to Doflamingo's men, who quickly turned to retreat in their terror of this prince. So, Luffy's eyes then moved to where Tony held Nami to him, and Tony was looking right at him.

Taking one step at a time, Luffy made his way to them and dropped to his knees beside them. Tony had already closed her eyes, and her skin was so pale in contrast to her beautiful hair and red blood. "I'm sorry, Prince Luffy," Tony whispered and gingerly passed the young woman to him.

Holding his arms out, Luffy took the young woman into his arms and held her close. His eyes once again blurred with pain and tears as he gazed down into her beautiful face. Reaching up, he caressed her cool cheek to brush her hair from her face, and then his eyes shifted to her throat, where Chopper had attempted to clean with his own shirt. Clamping his teeth down, his tears fell, and then he just pulled her in to hug her, uncaring of her blood which stained his clothes.

Finally seeing Nami, Zoro gasped, and his jaw dropped. "Nami!" he cried as he ran towards them, but realizing she was dead, he just dropped to his knees. "No," he whispered, his own eyes blurring with tears. "Fuck… No…" he whispered as his face screwed up, and then he buckled over, bashing his forehead into the ground. What was he supposed to tell Nojiko?

Slowly coming up beside Luffy, Ace knelt down and looked over the young man and woman. "I'm sorry, Luffy," he whispered to him and sighed. "I'm so sorry…"

"Not leaving it like this," Luffy muttered flatly within Nami, but then he lifted his head to look down at her again. "Can't accept this."

"No, Luffy… you have to," Ace said and shook his head, becoming worried.

"Don't you dare, boy," Garp growled, looking greatly agitated.

"Don't he dare, what?" Sanji asked with a deep frown as he looked between them.

Zoro also lifted his head with a frown and looked between them. "What's going on? What're you all talking about?"

"I'm sorry, Gramps, but I can't," Luffy whispered and moved to lay Nami down over the ground. "I promised her I would keep her safe. I promised her I would protect her. I will keep my promise," he whispered and held his hand over her face.

"Damn it, boy!" Garp exclaimed and moved forward, but he was blocked off by Ace.

"Don't do it, Gramps," Ace whispered and gazed back at Garp intently as he held the old man back.

"Step aside, boy, or I'll make you step aside," Garp growled down at him with a scowl and pushed against him, causing Ace to skid across the ground.

"I can't do that, old man. This is Luffy's choice," Ace whispered, and his expression softened.

"What the hell is going on, damn it!?" Zoro demanded, wanting to know what Luffy was doing, but then he frowned as he watched him.

Those same golden specks of light came out of Luffy's hand and floated down to Nami. Clutching her chin with his free hand, he pulled down on it to open her mouth. The little golden speckles floated into her mouth as well as into her nose. It was not long before the wound in her throat began to heal, and everyone's jaws began to drop.

"Damn it, boy!" Garp yelled at the top of his lungs and gripped Ace's arms so tightly, Ace winced with a grunt, but he kept his hold on Garp.

"Wha… What…?" Tony whispered with his eyes as wide as they could go, and he could not blink. It was Luffy… He was the one, who had saved Nami that day. He had removed her bullet and healed her wound. It was amazing to see it firsthand.

Once the wound was healed, she began to gain color as her blood was replenished, but Luffy slowly began to lose his. He grunted and nearly doubled over, but continued what he was doing. He gasped for air, and soon, sweat began to pour from his brow down his face. Luffy grunted again and cried out painfully. Blood even began to trickle from his nose and lips. "Luffy, damn it, stop!" Garp pleaded, but now he looked worried. None of them had dared heal another after death.

He was ignored, and finally, when she was completely healed, Luffy moved his hand down to over her chest. He held it there for a bit, and his hand shook violently, but then a golden light shot down into Nami, causing her body to jolt. "Please," Luffy whispered, and did it once more, and then again… and again. However, he began to cry out more as the pain shot through his body.

"Luffy," Ace whispered, clamping his eyes shut tight against the tears wanting to be shed. He was afraid for his closest friend.

Finally after one more time, Nami took in a gasping breath, and her eyes fluttered before opening. They rolled around in disorientation, but then they focused on Luffy. Luffy huffed out with quiet, joyous laughter, but he was now as pale as she was before he healed her, and he even looked sickly.

"Luffy," Tony called in worry as he moved forward slightly.

"Luffy," Nami mouthed weakly, and then she managed a smile as she reached up to cup his cheek, but then she began to lose that smile, when she noticed the blood and his paleness. "Luffy?" she called again and attempted to sit up. Just as she sat up, Luffy lost his strength and collapsed. "Luffy!" she cried weakly and forced herself up. She moved over him and pulled him into her arms. "Luffy, what happened?" she whispered and looked him over.

Clamping his eyes shut, Garp instantly shoved Ace away and turned to look away. He could not watch any longer. He took steps away from the others, and Ace just watched him with sadness, but then he looked back down at Luffy. "What-What's going on?" Zoro whispered and looked up at Ace, but Ace did not acknowledge him.

"Luffy, please," Nami pleaded in a whisper as she met his eyes again.

"Nami," Luffy whispered weakly and smiled up at her, "I'm so sorry. I couldn't… keep my promise. I wasn't able to… protect you. And now… I can't… stay with you."

"Wha-What? Why? Luffy, what's going on?" she asked, her eyes instantly filling with tears.

"You… died… Had to… bring you back… Took… everything," he whispered in small bursts of speech. He was losing his strength and fast.

"No… No, Luffy, you're going to be okay. I-I'm going to take care of you," Nami pleaded as she began to cry.

"Can't," Luffy whispered and slowly began to shake his head. "Promise me, Nami… Promise me… you'll take care of… yourself…"

"What?" she whispered, looking confused and conflicted as she began to shake her head. "I don't understand!"

"Remember," he said and grunted as his face twisted with pain, "I… th-thanked you… I thanked you… because…" his eyes lowered, and then he weakly lifted his arm to press his hand to her stomach, "because… you gave me…everything…"

Looking down, she stared in confusion where his hand was pressed to her stomach, and then her eyes pulsed with understanding. She quickly looked up at him, and her eyes quickly filled with more tears. "No… No, no, Luffy!" she cried, and already her body began to quake with sobs. "No, you have to be with me!"

"S-Sorry… S-So sorry… P-Please… Nami… promise me," he whispered, his eyes pleading with her as more blood trickled from his lips.

Clamping her teeth down hard, she groaned as she pressed her forehead to his chest, and then she whispered, "I would never waste what you've given to me, Luffy. You've given me everything as well." She then looked up to meet his eyes and whispered, "I promise."

"Good," he whispered and smiled faintly to how weak he had become. "Love you, Nami…"

"I love you too, Luffy," she whispered with a gasp as her tears worsened. She then leaned in and pressed her lips hard to his. "I love you!"

He smiled a little wider, but then he whispered, "Good… Good…" She pulled back to look down at his smile and smiled as well. "Good…" he whispered one more time, but even more weakly than the last two. However, his smile slowly faded as did the life within his eyes.

Slowly, she began to shake her head, but then she gave a cry as she pulled him more into her arms. "No!" she cried as she began to wail in her grief. She even began rocking him as she held him tight, but soon, she was not even allowed to do that. His body slowly began to disintegrate into those same golden speckles of light, which drifted into the air to float away. However, this time, those speckles of light began to fade and turn to ash. "No!" she cried out, and soon, all she held within her hand was his ash. She gave another cry, filled with her anguish, and then she lay down to curl up within his ashes.

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note: **_**"Breathe in the light… and say goodbye…" **_TT_TT I know… I'm so sorry… I am so sad… -Curls into a little ball and cries- I just wanted to mention, as what you've seen, they each have a different power, much like the Devil Fruits. I decided to keep Ace's similar to his original power, because Ace with fire is HOT! Lawl! I know… That was totally inappropriate. I'm so sorry… T_T Stay tuned for the last chapter. T_T

**Side Note: **I nearly forgot to add this, but I thought Monkey was just too silly for the circumstances and feel of the story, so I changed it to Moncaí, which is still Monkey, only in Irish Gaelic. xD I tried other languages, even Brazilian, but I liked the way it looked in Irish. :3 Also, seeing as he used red hair, which I decided on, because of one of my own characters, who's Irish… and you know, Shanks too. Yeah, you get the point… c,c


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's Note:** This is it, folks, the very last chapter to this fic. :) I'm sooo very glad I was able to finish it! :D I'm sure you guys are too! xD I will have to see about the fics I've yet to finish. X( Perhaps they are salvageable… You know what sucks for me? I already have a new fic idea; an idea inspired by another of my dreams… Anyways, it's in the works still, because I don't have enough for it yet. I may write it, but I really do need to focus on my own book! X( I guess we'll see what happens… Anyways, I won't keep you any longer. :) Enjoy the last chapter, you guys!

**Faceless Mask**

**Chapter 22**

"_Today we mourn a great man. We were all so amazed to learn the Legendary Prince Luffy of Sereniata had been found, only to also be told he had also died on that same day; on the day of his birthday. It was also a shock to learn that our great prince was the actual man behind saving so many all around the world. He stood up against his grandfather and did what needed to be done for our sake. However, what was most shocking was learning that the sovereign king as well as Prince Luffy and so many others are a completely different race of people from the rest of us; a stronger, more powerful race, which they have been dubbed as, "The Men of D.", but they have assured us, and the prince's sacrifice has assured us, that they only mean to protect us. The sovereign king quoted, "It has always been our priority to keep our world safe and everyone and everything in it." The sovereign king has also taken the prince's place, by making sure the economy stays the way it is. We've always heard the legends of men and women with power, but never had we guessed the truth of it. We're not really sure what this means, and there are many who are skeptical. However, we all belong to this planet. Should we really let such differences come between us?"_

"_You are indeed right, Jeffery. After all, Prince Luffy put a stop to one King's tyranny, Doflamingo Donquixote, who caused his people to suffer and started a small war with the Sovereign King Garp as well as his grandson Prince Luffy within King Cobra's Nation, who also assisted the sovereign king. Doflamingo's nation was one of those liberated __**from**__ him, thanks to the prince's efforts, and it was by this king's hands, that we lost our precious prince. However, we've been told Doflamingo has been placed within a mental facility. Reports say his mind is no longer present. We are unsure what it was Prince Luffy did, but we are grateful. It was quoted that Prince Luffy stated that Doflamingo would never rule his kingdom again, and this has come true. He also made sure this mad king could never hurt anyone ever again. We're still unsure, who will be taking Doflamingo's place, but we're sure our sovereign king will handle it to the best of his abilities, which we now know are substantial. The sovereign king has always taken care of us. And during these strange events, we also learned that Sanji Zeff was merely a necessary face in order to keep the prince and his secret safe. Sanji came out with a statement saying, "I merely provided my services to the prince. He allowed me to keep his secret safe; he allowed me to keep him safe." Regardless, we still believe Sanji was a great and brave man for being so willing to risk his life for us, and apparently, ladies, I hate to say this, but he is no longer one of the world's most eligible bachelors. Sanji is still and always will be a hero to the world."_

"_I think we can all agree with you, Sharyl. Sanji is also in great mourning, along with the rest of the world. Thousands attended the young prince's funeral, __**including**__ Sanji, Prince Ace, his father King Roger, who both also happen to be Men of D, the prince's grandfather, the sovereign king, as well as the prince's father, Dragon and another great person we recently learned about. A brave woman, who risked her life for the prince several times, and who we now also found out was the great prince's love. Her name is Nami Tange, and she is quite a beauty. From what some report, the young woman was the one actually __**killed**__, by this mad king, but Prince Luffy gave his life to save hers. We still have no idea how he was able to do this, and all we know is that it had something to do with his power. Such an amazing power."_

"_Yes, it really is, and it's just so mind boggling. It's still taking me a while to digest it. We're hoping some will come forward to shed some light on this. I know some were hoping to here from Nami herself about what happened. So many have tried several times to get a statement from this amazing young woman, but she is still in deep mourning and refuses to speak to anyone. We expect that soon, she will be willing to speak out to the world and tell us all about the prince; this Prince of D, he is now known by some. We never forgot you, Prince Luffy, and we never will. Your sacrifice will not have been in vain."_

**Three And A Half Months Later…**

"Nami, are you hungry?" Nojiko asked as she tilted her head slightly to try and get a look at her sister from where she sat beside the open widow. It was a place she always seemed to be sitting at as of late, and it had Nojiko greatly worried for her sister. With them on a third floor apartment, she could see everyone as they passed; the sidewalks were always crowded with people, no matter the time of day. Why was she watching them? Who was she watching? It was almost as if she was waiting, but for what? Her expression was so forlorn, and it made Nojiko want to cry every time she saw her.

When everyone had returned to the palace that awful night, Nami had been in a horrible state and covered in blood. She looked as if she was unaware of anything that was happening or that Zoro carried her. Nojiko had been so worried for her, but then she had noticed. They were one person short. When she was told, by Ace, that Luffy was dead, she had cried for her sister. Then she had been told that Nami had actually been the one, who died, and she had been in shock. Luffy had given his life to save her sister. She could not help feeling grateful to the young man, but at the same time, she felt such grief over his passing.

Even now, Nami was distraught. She was so detached from the world and from everything. She hardly spoke, unless it was completely necessary, and she could never make eye contact with Ace, whenever he dropped by. He had moved nearby to be close to Nojiko, since their relationship had become serious. It was what Nojiko had wanted to tell her the day of the masquerade ball.

"No," Nami replied back quietly and flatly as she glanced about outside of her window.

"Okay, well… just tell me when you are, okay?" Nojiko asked as she frowned to her sister softly.

"I will," Nami whispered as she rubbed over her stomach idly.

She was pregnant, but Luffy had told her so. However, the signs were beginning to show now, and she was becoming worried. She could feel her baby. It was faint, but he had the same signature as his father. She could feel that the baby was a boy as well. Soon, the power would grow stronger, and the others would be able to feel him too. They did not think she noticed them, roaming about outside of her window and watching her, but she knew they were there. Garp was having her watched, but why? Would he take away their baby from her?

She would never let them have their baby. She would fight, if she had to. She felt her eyes stinging with tears as she continued to rub over it. It was barely there, but a slight baby bump was beginning to show. She had to leave before she began to grow more. She had to go into hiding before his presence was known by the others.

There were others, who also sought her out; the media. They wanted answers from her about Luffy, and they wanted to know about her personally, but she was in no condition to speak to them. Even now, she refused to leave the house, to avoid them. What she and Luffy had would always remain with her. It was not something she would ever be willing to speak to them about. She would most certainly never tell them about their baby.

What was she going to do? Closing her eyes, she felt a tear trickle down her cheek. She would tell Ace. He would help her; she knew he would. He was loyal to Luffy since they were childhood friends, and he had not told Garp about Luffy. Perhaps he could help her escape into hiding. Yes, that was what she would do. Her heart panged with great pain; a pain which had not lessened since the day Luffy had died within her arms. She missed him so much.

What was more depressing was learning about her sister's relationship with Ace. It was what her sister wanted to tell her when they came home, and so Nojiko did. Of course, it did not stop there. She also learned that Sanji was getting into a relationship with the Princess Vivi, and even Zoro was in a sort of relationship with Robin, who remained as King Cobra's chief advisor, despite being the sovereign king's spy. All of them had what she had lost. It hurt, and it hurt a lot, but she was happy for them.

Taking in a deep breath as she closed her eyes, she then shook her head and opened them once again. She had to remain strong. She made a promise, that she would take care of herself, and now, she had their son to take care of as well. She had not even told Nojiko yet. She really should, but she could not bring herself to do it yet. It was not that she could not trust her sister. It was just something she wanted to keep to herself for a while. Their son was their little secret.

"Nojiko?" Nami called and turned her head towards her sister.

"What is it, sweetie?" Nojiko called back softly in reply as she walked over to her sister and gently clutched her shoulder.

"I think… that maybe I'll eat now," Nami replied softly, but did not meet her eyes.

"All right, I'll make you something then," Nojiko said even more softly, and then she leaned down to kiss the top of her sister's head. "I'll also make you some tea, okay?" she said and walked over to the kitchen.

"Thank you," Nami whispered and bit her lip.

Maybe she should just tell her sister the truth. She gently clutched at her stomach and closed her eyes. She really should tell her. Taking in a breath, she parted her lips and meant to speak, but then she gasped as her eyes flew open. It was faint, but she had felt it. It was a spike in power, and a very specific signature.

Quickly, she moved closer to the window to look out, and she saw as many spies began running in a certain direction. It was the same direction as where the spike had come from. Quick tears filled her eyes as she stared off in that direction, but then she blinked several times, causing her tears to fall, when she noticed motion before her eyes. Sitting back and focusing her eyes, she saw as the golden speck of light floated within her window and right before her. However, it then turned and floated right back out of the window towards the ground.

Sitting up again quickly, she stuck her head out of the window to look down. There was a young, brown haired man standing just below her window. The moment she poked her head out, he looked up at her with his bright green eyes; those intense eyes, which always seemed to see right through her, and then he grinned brightly as he winked up at her. More tears rushed to her eyes and fell as she huffed out with humorless mirth.

However, soon she began to laugh more earnestly as well as joyously, and then she smiled brightly.

**The End…**

**Author's Note: **Bam! Yup, that's all folks. How'd you like it? ;) Was it good? You like my ending? Luffy is a mystery. :3 I think two more great songs, which remind me of this fic is Blue Jeans and Summertime Sadness, both by Lana Del Rey. :3 Give them a listen. Blue Jeans is one of my favorite songs right now, and definitely my favorite from her! :D I think I should also esplains their powers a bit more. xD Their power is… well… manipulation, and not to mention they have super human strength. xD Luffy can manipulate things, like his appearance, injuries, and the fact that he can duplicate himself. Now, the golden speckles thing was in the dream I had, which started this whole fic. xD I actually saw Luffy use those golden speckles in my dream, and it looked so damn cool! xD Anyways, Ace's power is similar, but it's flames, instead. He can make those men think they're on fire, even if they're really not, and Garp could manipulate stone. Now, Luffy's manipulation was much more powerful. :P And we all know it's because Luffy is bad ass! xD So anyways, that's all folks! Thanks so much for sticking with me all throughout this story! It really makes me happy! Thanks so much as well for all your support and reviews! You guys are great! :D


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